Distant Elephants
by Kiara-Zzyopen
Summary: The OC and BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.
1. Once Upon a Time

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**A/N:** Okay, here's my new story for 2006, and it's something a bit different for me. A rather late happy new year to everyone who's reading and please give lots of feedback!

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**PROLOGUE- ONCE UPON A TIME…**

"No!" Giles hurried towards his apprentice and snatched the files he had been stuffing into a steel filing cabinet. "Xander how many times do I have to tell you: that cabinet is for finances only!"

The one-eyed-former-carpenter groaned. "Everything needs sorting. I don't get it, how are these files in such a mess?"

"Two words- Quentin Travers." Giles said without looking up from the script he was reading.

"So he's still screwing us over even though he's dead. I still don't get how he stayed as head of the old council for so long. I mean, you know there's something wrong with a guy when half his workforce is hoping he'll be assassinated and the other half are actively plotting it."

Giles ignored him. "Here; start going though the slayer's files. They need to be filed alphabetically by the slayer's surname."

"Finally something logical." Xander muttered, flopping back into a fake-velvet armchair and glaring at a tottering stack of yellowing files. He sighed, reaching forward and lifting the top few files onto his lap. "Right. Elliot comes before Parregello and after Anderson…"

It had been nearly one year since the defeat of the First. After a month holiday, Giles had gone to England to claim the funds and resources out of the Watchers Council's various vaults, crated them up, and flown them back to America. His time in England with Willow had shown him that after over six years away, it wasn't his home anymore. He'd never had any siblings and his parents were both dead so Xander, Willow, Buffy and the rest were the only family he had left. He'd been surprised when Xander had offered to help him out, but looking back it wasn't really that surprising. Anya was dead; Buffy, Faith and Willow were fighting the forces of evil and Dawn was in school all day and often out with her friends in the evenings.

When Giles next looked up, Xander was already about a third of a way down the stack of files and was reading one of the labels on the front of a new-ish folder.

Xander looked up, clearly confused. "What did Faith say her last name was again?"

"Lehane. Why? Is something wrong?"

"You tell me. On the front of this folder there is clearly a picture of Faith, yet that certainly doesn't say Lehane." He held the files out for Giles to see.

Giles opened it and briefly scanned the first page before laying it down on the table. "Faith's last name must have been changed." He said matter of factly.

"What…How…Why doesn't this surprise you?"

"Potentials were often removed from their families for training and if the council felt that the family might try to trace them, they changed their names."

"But, but that's so mean!"

"Yes, very…mean. Xander, you can't read that. It's confidential!"

Xander continued scanning the file. "It's Faith- we already know her darkest secrets." He murmured.

Giles said nothing. What did any of any of them really know about who Faith was before she arrived in Sunnydale? The fact that she refused to talk about it, even now, when she was starting to trust the Scoobies, told him that it was more than simple teenage stubbornness. Something told him that whatever had happened hurt the reformed slayer. A lot.

"Xander, have you ever considered there may be a reason Faith doesn't tell you about her past?" Giles tried again half heartedly.

"Hey, did you know it's Faith's birthday next week? We should do something. It would be nice- See, good things come from snooping."

Even Giles couldn't deny that. It would be good for Faith to have a proper birthday- everybody else had one so it was only fair. It might make her feel more like one of the team.

Xander scanned the file, drinking in the information. Faith and he had gotten close since the destruction of Sunnydale. They'd found that they actually quite liked each others company, Faith even seemed to talk to Xander about things she'd never spoken to anyone else about before, and they'd developed a friendship that they didn't really understand. She had tried to kill him; he'd hated her for years. Now they spent hours together talking or sparring or doing anything really. Something in the file caught his attention.

"Oh God." Xander was looking at a yellow post-it note stuck on the page.

"What's wrong?" Giles asked going over and taking the note off the page.

"That is. Well, that and what's written in the rest of this thing. Faith was taken from her family."

"Yes for her training, I told you that that was probably the case."

"No, I mean forcibly taken. From this I'd say that they don't even know what happened to her or where she is now." Xander looked horrified. They'd all know that the Watchers Council hadn't exactly been fair to the slayers, but this was in an entirely different league. "We have to do something."

"Xander, it must be nearly a decade since Faith last saw her family- do you really think that it's wise to drag it all up again? For her or them?"

"So what? We do nothing? Let Faith stay all moody and loner-y? Let her family keep thinking she's dead?"

"She's made no move to contact them herself, not even since we took over the council, we have no right to do it for her. Maybe what she left behind wasn't all that great. Maybe she was happier in Sunnydale. I know you've gotten…closer to Faith, but this may be as good as it gets for her." Giles said quietly.

"I don't know if I can believe that." Xander said after a pause, but he let the subject drop and filed Faith's folder in-between Cesha and Copènt.

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Xander walked along the grassy bank, keeping an eye out for the figure that he knew would be there. It was their escape- miles away from civilisation and almost completely deserted save for the occasional hiker or dog-walker. He finally saw her. She had her back to him, leaning on the wooden fence that ran around the old duck pond and staring into the distance. She was the only one there, no surprise. The ducks had been moved long ago to the new park so there was no reason for anyone to come this far from any of the roads, especially on a drizzly day like this one.

"I thought I might find you here."

Faith didn't turn around. There were very few people who knew where she went on the frequent occasions that she left Headquarters- Buffy had got curious within a week and followed her, Angel had tracked her down the first time he came to visit and Xander had just been there one day and they'd started talking. They actually had some things in common. That's right; her, the murderer, and him, the carpenter.

"Maybe you realised that I wanted to be alone and know this is where I come."

"Maybe I thought you shouldn't be alone on your birthday."

She didn't say anything. Not for the first time, Xander wished he could know what she was thinking.

"You know Xander, sooner or later you're going to land yourself in a world of trouble." She said finally.

"Good job I know a bunch of super strong chicks to bail me out then. Why didn't you tell anyone today was your birthday?" He pressed.

"Leave it, Xander." She warned, turning towards him for the first time.

"What happened to you Faith?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"Yeah, right. You're always hiding something back, something about your past, about your family."

"Xander, please, just let it alone." There was a note of pleading in her voice. He knew he was close.

"Why won't you talk to me?"

"Because you wouldn't understand. You wouldn't understand what any of it was like!" She pushed past him roughly, but Xander wouldn't be put of that easily.

"How do you know I wouldn't understand if you won't tell me?"

"Because I know, okay? You have no problems, not like mine. You don't have a clue about what my life was like."

"Then tell me about it! I thought we were friends. I know this is hurting you Faith, but you won't let me help you." He grabbed her arm, and was surprised when she stopped walking away and turned towards him.

"You have it easy Xander. Okay, so your family wasn't so great, but you had friends that genuinely cared about you- that would have died for you. Your life was like a fucking fairytale; it wasn't like that for me." She spoke softly, but Xander could hear every word she was saying.

"Faith, you can't run from this forever, it's eating you up inside already. You said you trusted me, but you obviously don't trust me enough. I hate to see you hurting like this."

He tilted her chin up and was surprised to see tears spilling over onto her cheeks. Faith had always seemed so strong; he'd never seen her cry even with all she went through when they first met.

"You can't help me." Faith said quietly. "I want you to, but it's too late. Please, just let it lie."

"Is that what you really want?" He asked sceptically.

She nodded.

"Okay, but if you ever want to talk-"

"I know."

Xander realised he was still cupping her chin. He removed his hand, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. "Sorry."

"S'okay."

"Is it?"

Faith reached up, brushing a surprisingly gentle kiss against him lips. "Yes. Really."

He stared at her for a moment, a million thoughts jumbling through his head. "You've got a class with the slayers in twenty minutes. We better go back."

She nodded silently, making off towards Headquarters.

Xander shook himself mentally before heading after her. One thing was for sure, there was more to this than he originally thought and he couldn't just let it rest as Faith requested. She wasn't happy now, and his gut feeling told him that this was the key to unlocking the mysterious slayer.

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In one of many rooms in an Orange County 'McMansion', an attractive woman sat with a well worn photograph. There was a chance that if she showed the photo to one of her neighbours then they would recognise it from the brief amount of time that it had been plastered on the front page of the newspapers or shown in the TV news. They'd give her a pitying look and hand it back, as if not wanting to catch whatever had brought down tragedy on the seemingly perfect family.

As she gazed into the deep chestnut eyes, her husband came into the room and sat down next to her.

"Kirsten?"

No answer.

He tried another tactic. "Seth and Ryan will be home soon."

More silence.

"They shouldn't see you like this."

"She'd be twenty-one today."

He sighed. "I know. I'd never forget something like that."

"We'd go out to a bar and then I'd buy her her first drink…well, legal drink." She smiled wistfully, imagining her faked surprise as her daughter knew exactly what she wanted to order from the barman, pretending not to know what went on 'behind-the-scenes' at the typical Harbour School party.

"Kirsten, don't do this to yourself."

"Do what? Talk about my daughter?" She said harshly. "Why don't you want to remember her? Don't you want to know what she's like?"

"She's gone Kirsten, has been for over ten years. I think it's about time we faced the fact that she's probably-"

"Don't you say that! I know she's still alive. Why are you giving up on her?"

"Because I can't take it anymore!" The usually level-headed Sandy Cohen burst out. "I can't keep hoping that one day she'll knock on the door because it's killing me. I need, _we_ need to move on."

"I can't do that."

"Seth's forgotten all about her, so has the rest of Orange County."

"And that's what you want me to do? Act like everything's okay? As if we never had a daughter?"

"No, of course not. We'll never forget her, but we have two sons who are here, with us right now. They deserve to have all the love we can give." Sandy stood up and walked out the room.

He paused in the doorway. "I'll always wonder if she still has my eyes."

"I don't think she would've changed that much." Kirsten said softly, but Sandy had already left.

"We're home!"

As Kirsten heard Seth's voice, she hastily slid the photo back into her purse and wiped her eyes.

She still had one child left to protect, and she had long ago promised to never loose her son the way she lost her daughter. So the picture would stay at the back of her purse, a constant reminder to never stop believing, to never loose faith.

Once was more than enough.

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	2. In a Kingdom Far, Far Away

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**THANKS TO REVIEWERS: **Those who gave signed reviews should all have responses as those new rules mean I can't post responses here. As a big thanks to everyone who reviewed, I've got the next chapter up quickly. Keep on reviewing!

**A/N:** This chapter takes place in 1994.

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**1- IN A KINGDOM FAR, FAR AWAY…**

_**1994**_

She stamped her foot, watching as her mother went back up the stairs. "I'm going to be late for sch-oool!"

"We've got plenty of time. Seth Ezekiel, you have until the count of five to get over here."

"_Mooom!_"

Kirsten took her eyes off her son to look at her daughter. "Faith, I'll get you there, I promise. But your brother is covered in cheerio's, as soon as he's changed we'll leave."

"Yeah, yeah." As her mother shooed Seth up the stairs she shifted her bag on her shoulders and began to pace the width of their stairs.

One minute passed… then two…then four.

Kirsten Cohen finally reappeared at the top of the stairs, dragging Seth behind her who was carrying a pair of trainers and skidding all over the polished floor in his odd socks.

"Okay, let's go."

"Finally." Faith muttered, knowing not to risk her mothers temper by saying any louder.

Kirsten grabbed her keys and briefcase and opened the door; Faith practically ran out after her and jumped in the car. As they were pulling out the driveway, Seth pointed to a black car.

"Who's that?"

Faith looked towards the car. It had blacked out windows, but she thought she could see the shadowy outlines of two people inside. It had no number plates, only a silver logo on the front reading 'I.W.C.' Although it wasn't uncommon to see cars outside the Cooper house, one of Jimmy's clients perhaps, something about it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Probably one of Mr. Cooper's clients." Kirsten passed off easily, not giving the car another thought.

When the car pulled up alongside Harbour Junior High, Faith jumped out, running to catch up with the last of the children hurrying inside the building.

Kirsten shook her head in amusement and turned to her son. "One day that sister of yours is going to land herself in trouble with all that rushing about."

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Faith stormed out of her school, scowling for all she was worth- Stupid Katie Fisher and her stupid birthday party. Just because Faith had accidentally spilt a _tiny_ bit of coke on her sweater…it wasn't as if her dad couldn't afford to buy her a new one. And now she'd officially been uninvited to THE birthday party of the year.

Not to mention that she now had to walk home because there was no way she'd share a car with that evil little cow.

This explained why she was walking down the perfectly kept roads of Newport Beach, school bag slung over her shoulder, arms crossed over her chest sullenly. She never saw the car crawling behind her until it overtook her and stopped a little way ahead of her.

Two men got out and leaned casually against the car. As Faith passed them, one of them grabbed her.

Instinct took over and Faith began to shout and wriggle, trying to get free from his strong grasp. The man clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the shouts, looking around to check that they were still alone.

"Ow!"

Faith had bit his hand causing him to drop her, but the second one grabbed her, pinning her arms to her side.

"Help me!" Faith yelled uselessly. But no one came.

"Get the shot!" The one holding her growled.

She flinched as the first man injected her with something, but her struggles soon died- her kicks became useless taps, not hurting anyone. Unconsciousness came and she was driven away from Orange County.

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Kirsten picked up her ringing phone. "Kirsten Cohen... Oh hey, Marie…What do you mean Faith's not home yet? She was meant to be getting a lift home with Suzi Fisher over two hours ago…She's probably just at one of her friends houses…I'll give them a call and ring you back…Okay, bye Marie."

Kirsten put the phone down. She'd be having serious words with her daughter about not telling the nanny when she'd be home. She picked up the phone and dialed through to her PA.

"Beth? Can you put me through to Suzi Fisher, please? Thanks." She tapped her pen on the desk as she waited. Something about this wasn't right; Faith knew that she could go over to see her friends after school; she just had to call first. So why wouldn't she?

"Hi, Suzi? It's Kirsten Cohen…I'm fine thanks. Is Faith with you?" There was a pause. "What do you mean 'they had a fight'? What about?" Another pause. "So you didn't give her a lift home, she walked on her own…no, I understand. And you have no idea where she'd be? Okay. Thanks Suzi."

Kirsten tapped a few keys on her computer, bringing up an address book. She refused to panic yet- there was probably a perfectly reasonably explanation. She began to dial the numbers of Faith's friends.

Half an hour later, she put the phone down again. It had been three hours since school had finished and no one had seen Faith. She called home one last time. Still no sign. So, forcing the feeling of nausea down, Kirsten called the one person who could make everything okay.

"Yes hello, can you put me through to Sandy Cohen please, it's his wife…well get him out of the meeting! It's important." A tuneless melody played in her ear as her husband was tracked down. It stopped after a few minutes with a click.

"Hello?"

"Sandy?" Just hearing his voice made her worry surface.

"What's wrong?" He asked, sensing her tone immediately.

"Faith's missing. She never came home from school."

There was a pause as Sandy tried to take in what he'd just been told. "Have you called her friends?"

Kirsten nodded, despite the fact that he couldn't see her. "All of them. She had a fight with Katie Fisher this afternoon and refused to get a ride home with her."

"A fight? You don't think she would have, you know, left?"

"No, it's not like her."

"I know. Okay don't worry. She could just be at the mall."

"She hates shopping."

"Or at the beach." Sandy continued without a break. "I'll have a drive round and be with you in an hour."

"Okay."

"She'll be okay, Kirsten." And with that he hung up and went to find his daughter.

Kirsten put down the phone, surprised to see that she'd started crying and hadn't even realized. She blinked back the tears, trying to focus back on the report she'd been writing and tell herself that everything would be okay. Even if she couldn't really believe it.

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The phone rang. "Hello?" Kirsten said, desperately hoping to hear her daughter's voice.

"Kirsten, come home."

"Sandy? What's happened?" A pit of dread formed in the bottom of her stomach.

A long pause. "I walked the way she would have to come home from school. I found her school bag… she'd dropped it in the gutter. I've called the police." He finished quietly.

"I'm coming home." She put the phone down, picked up her bag and walked out of the office.

"Mrs. Cohen?"

"I'm going home, Beth." She said, never breaking her stride.

She had no idea how she got home. It was a total blur. When she entered her house, Sandy met her at the door.

"There's a police officer who wants to talk to us." He said quietly.

"Seth?"

"He's upstairs with Marie… I couldn't tell him."

"We might not have to."

Sandy nodded. There was still hope. It had only been a few hours.

Grasping her husbands hand for support, Kirsten sat down opposite a woman in uniform who smiled sympathetically at them before asking her questions.

"Has your daughter ever run away?" "Is there any problems at home?" "Did she seem happy?" "When did you last speak with her?"

They answered the questions robotically for what seemed like hours until the officer stood up to leave.

"Please try to stay positive, Mr. and Mrs. Cohen. It has only been a few hours; Faith may turn up all on her own. We'll contact you with any news and a liaison officer will be with you in the morning."

Sandy nodded. He knew the drill.

"Thank you." Kirsten whispered. Her gaze drifted to the phone, willing it to ring.

The police woman smiled again before leaving the house.

Sandy closed the door behind her and drew his wife into his arms. "It'll be okay."

He felt her shake with sobs. "It'll be okay." He repeated more for himself than for her.

"We should talk to Seth. He'll be wondering what's happening." He said after a long moment.

Kirsten nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"We have to be strong for him." Sandy said as they made their way up the stairs. He shot one last look towards the door, hoping for his daughter to knock on the door.

He waited for that knock for ten years. But it didn't come. And eventually, he stopped jumping whenever there was a knock at the door; his heart stopped missing a beat whenever the phone rang. Eventually, he gave up and stopped waiting.

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	3. There Lived a Beautiful Princess

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language. See Warning!

**ANGEL TIMELINE:** Angel, Spike, Gunn and Illyria survived the fight with Wolfram and Hart, a bunch of slayers were sent at the last moment to help them out, and have rebuilt Angel Investigations. They don't play a part in this story as such, but I had a question that I felt deserved an answer.

**WARNING:** This chapter hints at/ mentions issues (namely: domestic violence) which some readers may find upsetting. There's nothing at all graphic, but you've been warned.

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**3- THERE WAS A BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS…**

"What's wrong with Faith?" Buffy went straight to the point. She had only been in Cleveland a day, but she could see that her sister slayer wasn't her usual snarky self.

"How should I know?" Xander replied slightly sullenly.

"Well, you're avoiding her; she's avoiding you; she changes the subject whenever I ask her what's up; she zones out whenever someone mentions your name and you keep looking at each other when you think no one's looking." Buffy said, ticking off her points on her fingers. "All in all, that point's to something you should know about. You guys didn't sleep together again, did you?"

"What? No!" Xander said with a blush.

"Good, cause that would only lead to badness. Much like there is now." Buffy slopped down in the chair opposite her long time friend and looked to him waiting for an explanation.

Xander sighed. "I asked her about her family."

"And..?"

"She told me to get lost. But I can't. Something happened, I don't know what. She's not happy and I can't stand to see her like that." He sounded desperate, lost; he didn't know what to do.

Buffy nodded, but then looked up at her friend sharply. "Oh my God- you like her!"

"Of course I do, she'd my friend."

"No, you like her more than as a friend- all that stuff about how you can't bear to see her hurting, that's serious."

"I don't want to see you hurting, or Dawn or Willow." He said defensively.

Buffy smiled, looking much wiser than she usually would. "But your eyes don't light up like that when you talk about us. Face it Xander, you've been bitten by the love bug. Oh, this is so perfect!"

"This is ridiculous! And I thought you said Faith and I would only lead to badness?"

"Yeah, well that was when I thought you just boinked. But when her pain causes you pain…well, that's how I felt about Angel. How I was beginning to feel about Spike."

Xander pulled her into a hug. Losing Spike had been hard on Buffy, he'd seen that. She'd gone to Italy with Dawn to get away from all the memories, only to hear that Spike was alive, well, undead. He knew how hard it was to give someone up for dead only to have them as part of your life again. "You'll feel that way again."

Buffy shook herself out of her reverie. "Yeah. You should talk to Faith."

He shook his head. "She won't tell me anything. Can you try? Find out what happened pre-Sunnydale?"

"I don't know Xander," Buffy sighed; "I don't think she'll tell me anything. But I'll give it a go." She added, seeing his desperate look.

"Thank you." He said looking pointedly at the door which Faith had just walked through.

"Now?"

He shrugged. "There's no time like the present."

Buffy's answer was to get up and cross the room to where Faith was standing. "Hey Faith."

"Hi." She returned suspiciously. "What were you two talking about?"

"We're worried about you." Buffy said, she saw no point in lying. Faith had probably heard some of it anyway.

"You don't need to be." Faith turned her back on her friend and continued walking away, hoping to put Buffy off that way. It didn't work.

"Oh really? You're not talking to Xander; you're unusually quiet and you look like you haven't slept in days."

"That comes with the slaying gig, B, you know that." Faith attempted at normalcy, trying to shrug off her friend's worries.

"Sure, at one time you might have to stay up for a couple of nights, but not anymore. Now there are more than enough slayers to help out. What's bothering you?"

"Nothing." She ground out, for a moment sounding like the old Faith; the dangerous Faith.

"Yeah, sounds like it. Xander said you freaked when he mentioned your family. What happened with them?"

Faith walked off, but Buffy followed, refusing to be put off so easily.

"Xander's really worried about you."

Faith flinched visibly. She didn't want anyone to worry about her, especially _him_. "He…he doesn't need to be."

Buffy considered pushing the Xander-aspect a bit further, but decided not to. The last thing she wanted to do was to upset Faith or make her angry. That would only make things worse. "You told me your parents were dead, was that a lie?"

She swung around, her eyes glinting dangerously. "Don't you call those, those bastards my parents." She growled before resuming her storming off.

"Then who are they?" Buffy asked, just as they walked past Dawn who looked up in interest.

"For God's sake Buffy, just fuck off and leave me alone!" Faith strode from the room, slamming the door behind her.

"What was that all about?" Dawn asked from her seat on the sofa.

"All I did was ask her about her family and she totally went off on one! I can't believe she spoke to me like that! I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind." She decided.

"Err, Buffy that's not a good idea." Dawn said.

"And why might that be?"

"Cause Faith was crying." Dawn said quietly.

Buffy sighed, her anger disappearing in an instant. "We need Xander."

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When Buffy returned to sit with Xander he looked up sadly. "Didn't go so well huh?"

"Not at all. I think I made things worse. And I think this is something you're going to have to handle." She said softly.

Xander looked up, his eyes tired and laden with emotion. "Why me?"

Buffy grasped his hands over the table. "Because when we were talking just now I noticed something. She's scared Xander, and alone and she wouldn't let many people see that. You're the person she wants to tell the least, but I think that you're the person she needs to tell the most."

Xander sat back in his chair. He did have feelings for Faith, had for a while. But until his conversation with Buffy a few minutes before, he hadn't known how deep they ran. The thought of her hurting was tearing him up inside and all he wanted was to be able to take that hurt away from her.

"I'll do it; whatever it takes." He pledged, and he meant it one hundred percent.

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"I don't want to see anyone."

Faith spoke as soon as Xander came within five feet of her.

"So you came to the one place you knew I'd find you?" Xander said, carefully keeping all the emotion out of his voice. He wanted to see where she took this but Faith didn't say anything.

"You don't have to be the strong one all the time. You can let people help you." He said, but he didn't get a reply or even a look. She kept staring straight ahead, pretending his eyes weren't on her.

They stood like that for a while, him waiting for her to make the first move, her trying to find the words. When he'd been there for nearly ten minutes and neither had said a word, he sighed heavily and made as if to walk away.

"Xander?" She sounded so weak, so helpless. She cursed herself for sounded so pathetic, so unlike the Faith everyone was used to; but right now all she wanted was for someone to hold her and tell that everything was going to be alright. She wanted to be looked after for once rather than put on the same old front. Did anyone even buy the act anyway?

He didn't need for her to say anything more. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, offering her all the comfort he could just by being there.

"You're shivering." He stated, tightening his arms around her and pulling her back to him. He was surprised when she relaxed into his embrace and when he looked down at her silent tears were washing down her cheeks. "I'm not going anywhere." He promised rubbing her bare arms in an attempt to banish the goose bumps from her skin.

She let out a sob, a strangled hiccough making its way to the surface. Faith took a few calming breaths, drawing her strength from the man behind her. It seemed to be working, and after a few minutes she felt the tears stop.

"This isn't going to go away, Faith. You've kept it a secret from us for six years." He murmured. "You can't go on pretending."

Another hiccough. "I know."

Xander waited for her to go on, but he found that he needed to prompt her. "Your name's Faith Cohen."

He felt her nod. "Yes."

"What happened to her?"

"She- I was located as a potential. I couldn't stay at home after that." Faith said dully.

"What was your home like?" He pressed gently.

"Good." She breathed, a smile dancing on her lips. "Mom was rich; I had everything I ever wanted. Dad was a lawyer; he worked in the DA office- he was one of the best, but he always made sure he was home before I went to bed so he could say goodnight. Sometimes, if he had a big case on, he even came home for a few minutes and then went back to the offices."

"They sound nice."

Faith nodded again. She hadn't spoken about her family for so long, but it felt right telling Xander and already she could feel a huge weight being lifted off her shoulders. "And Seth, he'd be…seventeen now, I wouldn't even recognise him."

"What happened?"

There was a long pause as Faith tried to get her thoughts together. "I was ten. I didn't know this at the time, but the Watchers Council had been watching me for a while- checking out my potential I suppose. They decided that if they asked Mom and Dad if they could take me for training there was a real danger that they'd say 'no'. So they just did it, grabbed me off the streets when I was walking home from school. The Council told me that when they told my family I was a potential, they didn't want me; that with the attacks that came hand in hand with slaying they decided it was too risky for Seth. I don't know if I believe that anymore, it seems a little convenient and if they wanted me to leave, why did they have to kidnap me? They loved me, I know they did."

Xander was quiet. He didn't really know what to say. But something told him that the happy family Faith had described wasn't the reason for her sadness now. "Where did they take you?"

She stiffened in his arms. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Maybe not, but I think you need to. I'm here Faith, no matter what. There's nothing you could say to make me leave." He said, putting all his emotion into his voice, hoping against hope that she'd trust him.

She was quiet for a few moments longer, but began to talk slowly and distantly as if it wasn't really her; it had been so long, especially with her forced silence, that she'd disassociated herself from the events. "Their names were Thomas and Jane. They seemed nice at first. Jane used to do a lot of housework whenever I was home from school so everything around the house was really clean and perfect looking, but we didn't talk that much.

"Thomas…was violent. I was just a kid, I couldn't stop him. And even when I could, even when I learnt enough with my watcher, I still couldn't stop him. The things he used to say, he made me feel powerless. I hate feeling that way."

Xander said nothing while she poured her heart out, telling him things she'd never told anyone, but inside he was seething. He could never understand how anyone could harm an innocent child and to realise that Faith had gone through so much left him raging. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip around her.

"…Jane knew. I could see it in her eyes, the way she looked at me. He may have hit her too, but I doubt it... she never stopped him. Just pretended we were this normal family and kept cleaning that damn house."

"Why didn't you tell anyone what he was doing?" He asked gently when she finished speaking.

"What? With the Watchers Council watching my every move? I'm pretty sure they knew anyway, I mean, how could they not have had any idea when they were watching me 24/ 7 to make sure I couldn't run away?"

"They might not have." He said, blocking out the possibility that the Watchers could have let that happen. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." He said sincerely, not knowing how to deal with what she'd told him.

Faith shrugged uncomfortably. Telling Xander her darkest secrets left her feeling vulnerable, but she was pleasantly surprised that he hadn't let go of her. He was still holding her, like nothing had changed; like she was still the same person to him and not damaged goods. It meant more to her to have his touch than she'd admit even to herself. "I guess I figured that I would hurt people before they could hurt me- otherwise I'd have gone insane."

Xander nodded. He could understand that, and it explained the way she was when she arrived in Sunnydale. "Do you know where they are now?"

"Dead." Faith answered with no sadness in her voice. "Killed by a group of vampires who found out they were working for the Watchers just after I left."

He nodded, letting go of the slayer and moving to stand next to her, trying to get his head around what he been told.

Her heart wrenched at the loss of contact. "So that makes things different, huh?" Faith whispered after a moment.

"What?"

"Now that you know. I don't want your pity, Xander. I want things to be normal between us." She said, barely audibly, her voice cracking despite her best efforts to keep it steady.

"You are one of, if not the, strongest, bravest people I've ever met." Xander said firmly, taking both of her hands in his. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead before continuing.

"You don't have to be on your own anymore, Faith. I won't let anyone hurt you, ever." Xander stopped. Should he tell her? He needed to get it off his chest. "This is probably the last thing you need to hear right about now, but I think I need to say it. I love you. I think I have for a while, but I only realised it today." He paused as Faith gaped at him. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have loaded that on you right now. I'll go."

He backed up, running a hand through his hair, taking one last look at her before he headed back to the centre.

Faith stood there for a moment, staring at his retreating back. She hugged her arms around her, trying to ward off the chill threatening to invade her body.

"I love you too."

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Well that chapter totally ran away from me. I didn't plan for half of that to happen! This wasn't even meant to be a romantic fic. Having said that, it's not going to be easy, mwah ha ha! Please let me know what you thought; until next chapter,

Kiara xxx


	4. Who Fell in Love with a Handsome Prince

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**A/N:** This chapter is mainly background stuff. I promise that the actual crossing will start next chapter- I just need to get things set up first.

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**4- WHO FELL IN LOVE WITH A HANDSOM PRINCE…**

Faith looked up from her breakfast as a folder was placed in front of her. She turned around to see Xander behind her. She swallowed the lump in her throat, their conversation from the previous night still fresh on her mind.

"What's that?" She asked. If he didn't mention it, if he regretted what he'd said and didn't want to bring it up; then she wouldn't either.

"I found them. Your family, I mean." Xander said with a small smile. He was half expecting a slap from what he'd told her last night, that he loved her. But it didn't come. Maybe Faith was happy to just let it drop, to let his feelings keep bubbling under the surface.

Blink, beat. "You what?"

"The Cohen's. They're still living in the same house so it wasn't difficult. I can book us on a flight today if you want."

"What gave you the right to interfere in my life like that?" She hissed mindful that there were still several people eating around them.

"I just thought that you'd want to see them again." He looked hurt, giving some of the best puppy dog eyes of his life.

It worked. "I'm sorry, Xander. I don't want to see them, I just want to get on with my life, okay?"

He shrugged, somewhat reluctantly. "Whatever you want."

"Thank you." Faith turned back to her cereal, determinedly ignoring the file still sitting on her table. She finished up her breakfast and rose from the table, smiling at the younger slayer who sat down in her place.

"Miss?"

Faith rolled her eyes and turned around. "It's just Faith."

"Okay, Faith; you erm, you left this." The timid slayer held out the folder.

She stared at it for a moment. "I…thanks."

Almost in a daze she returned to her room, she didn't even see Xander watching her leave with a smile on his face. Faith put the file on her bed. She stepped back, her eyes never leaving the dark red cardboard cover, and bit nervously on a nail.

If she opened it, then she knew that she'd want to at least see them again. But would they want to see her? The old Council had said they didn't want anything to do with the slaying life back then, how would they react if she told them what she'd done, that their daughter was a murderer? On the other hand, she could destroy the folder and go back to living the life she'd become accustomed to at the slaying centre.

After changing her mind a few times, she picked up the folder and threw it in the bin. It wasn't such a bad life really.

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"I just want to get on with my life, okay?"

He didn't want to agree to that. He knew she wanted to know what he'd found out, even if she didn't realize it yet. But if he pressed her then she would just push him away. "Whatever you want." He agreed reluctantly.

"Thank you." She turned back to her food.

Xander stood there for a moment, grasping for something to say to make her change her mind. His brain refused to cooperate so he returned to his seat at the breakfast table opposite Buffy and Dawn.

"How'd it go?" Buffy knew that Xander was trying to help Faith in some way, but not how.

"I don't know." He kept his eyes fixed on the brunette sitting over the other side of the room.

"Did she take the folder-y thing?" Dawn asked, stabbing at her bacon with her fork. Like Buffy, Dawn knew that something was going on but no amount of speculation had revealed to her what it might be. They both knew that Xander had been up all night searching for information in the council's files, but neither knew exactly what the information was. Although Buffy did suspect it had something to do with Faith's family before she came to Sunnydale.

"Not yet."

Dawn craned her head around in an attempt to see Faith. "It's right next to her on the table."

"But she hasn't taken it yet." He murmured.

"She might really not want to see what's in there." Buffy said, but immediately regretted it when Xander turned his one-eyed-glare onto his longtime friend.

"She needs this." There was a dangerous growl in his voice that Buffy hadn't heard before.

Despite herself she flinched back from Xander, trying to think of the right thing to say. Xander's admission that he loved Faith had surprised his long time friend at first, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Faith and Xander were the only original Scooby's living in Cleveland full time, well, except for Giles but he was always busy with the council. It made sense that they would get closer.

After the group had left Sunnydale, Faith and Xander had put all their differences aside to care for the injured and rebuild the council. Some months after the relocation to Cleveland, Xander was starting to move on from Anya's death and Robin Wood moved to England shortly after Faith and his breakup. They had been drawn together, became close friends. Xander told Faith about how he missed his ex-fiancé, Faith told Xander about her relationship fears. Xander didn't realize it at the time, he had no idea until Buffy had forced him to see it himself, but his feelings of friendship for Faith had slowly developed into something more.

"Look, she's leaving it." Dawn's urgent whisper had Xander's head snapping back to where he knew Faith would be.

He watched as a slayer picked up the folder and handed it to Faith. He smiled as Faith took the file and left with it. He knew she'd have to read it, she was too curious not to, and then she could finally start to move forward.

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"Aright nice and easy now start that shoulder turn, keep your eye on that ball maintain the spine angle, come on, turn those shoulders finish that turn feel that weight shift, you feel the..." Sandy faltered under his wife's glare. "I'm just gonna stand here, nice and quietly but supportively, alright."

Kirsten swung her golf club at the little white ball and put her hand on her hip to see how far it went. It didn't go very far.

"Wow.That was okay, your feet were a little busy maybe quiet your feet down, try it again."

Kirsten shook her head. "No more try's I _hate_ golf, I _suck_ at golf, I _no longer _wanna play golf."

"Honey, you could only get better."

"I'll take your word for it." Kirsten said, her smile from a minute ago fading.

"Kirsten…"

"Don't Sandy." She pleaded. They'd had this conversation so many times.

"You've been like this since…" He couldn't bring himself to say it. "Seth and Ryan are starting to notice something's wrong."

"We should have told Seth years ago." Kirsten insisted.

"So he could miss her too? At least this way he's a normal kid. Don't take that away from him." He knew she wouldn't tell Seth about his sister now, she wouldn't want to hurt their son when there was no point.

Kirsten shook her head helplessly. She'd been doing better, but now it was like she'd stepped back to where she was ten years ago. All her waking thoughts were filled with her lost daughter, and a good number of her sleeping ones.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore." Kirsten revealed quietly. "I have to go, magazine stuff."

Sandy watched his wife leave, noticing the slight slump in her shoulders and the usual bounce missing from her walk. "Keep it together, Kirsten."

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Faith watched the girls in front of her sparring; only paying half attention. Xander loved her. She'd known for a while that she felt more than friendship for the one person in the world that she felt like she could be herself with. But Faith had never said anything, never wanted to risk what they had only to be rejected and become an outcast again. She'd tried to kill him, she'd killed others. In what world would anyone see her as good enough for Xander 'help the helpless' Harris? And then they was that folder.

Try as she might, Faith could not get the file out of her head. It had been more than ten years. She'd moved on and had a life of her own. Going back now would only do more harm than good. So why couldn't she get it out of her head?

She heard one of the slayers calling her. "Faith?"

"Yes, Emily?"

The young slayer sighed. "Emma."

"Right. I knew that. Yes, Emma?"

"We have demonology in five minutes."

Emma suddenly found herself on the receiving end of many glares. It seemed her classmates would much prefer to stay and fight with each other than learn about the various dining habits of demons.

Faith smirked. "Wouldn't want you to miss that. See you tomorrow."

With much grumbling, the ten girls trooped out of the room leaving Faith alone with her thoughts.

She lasted all of two minutes.

"Ah screw it."

Frowning, Faith stomped back to her room, ignoring the younger slayers that had to dive out of her way as she rushed past, and fished the folder out of the bin. She took it over to the four poster bed that all of the senior staff at the council was privileged to and sat down.

Her hand hovered over the front cover for a few moments. There was a real chance that if she opened it, she'd need more- she'd need to see them. But she couldn't not open it; not when it was sitting right in front of her. Decision made.

The first page was full of facts about her mother. Name, age, occupation, address and other such details. As she glanced over it, Faith felt relieved to see that the only thing which had changed was her mother's position in Caleb's company. There was a Polaroid picture that Kirsten had obviously not known was being taken paper clipped to the top left corner. Faith could tell it was taken at one of Newport Beach's exclusive social events. Kirsten had aged gracefully; she looked almost the same as she did eleven years ago.

The second page contained the same details about her father. Once again, the only thing different to what she remembered was the occupation- Sandy had since opened his own law practice. The picture revealed the kindly face of her father she remembered from her childhood.

Faith smiled when she saw the picture on the third page. She'd always assumed that Seth would have changed as he grew older, he was only six the last time she'd seen him after all, but there he was. In all his curly-haired glory. Maybe she would have recognised him after all.

The rest of the file contained more information and pictures. Pictures of her parents, of her brother, of her grandfather, of her brother and another boy whose name wasn't mentioned and of the house that she had so many happy memories of.

By the end, there were tears running down her cheeks. Faith realised that she wanted this. She wanted her family back. So she did the one thing which felt completely natural to her and rang Xander.

"Hello?" His voice had the faraway quality of the phone line despite his only being a couple of doors down the hallway.

"It's me. I want to meet them."

He didn't need to ask what she was talking about. "I'll be right there."

As he hung up, Faith happened to look up and into the mirror. When she saw her tearstained reflection she grabbed a tissue and tidied herself up, ignoring the voice inside that was drawing attention to the fact that if it were anyone else she wouldn't care. She didn't want anyone to see she'd been crying. Yeah, that was it.

'He's seen it before,' the little voice persisted; 'and her didn't leave you then.'

She was pulled from her thoughts by a knock on the door. It was Xander.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Can I come in?" He asked after a long pause.

"I suppose so." She played it cool, just like always. Well, until recently anyway.

He was looking at the pictures still strewn across her bed. "You opened it then."

She nodded. "That's Mum, Dad and not-so-little Seth."

"They look nice. I can see why you want to see them again." He spoke casually, but he knew there was a lot riding on his words.

"Will you come with me?" Faith blurted out. She didn't mean to say that, she hadn't even realised that she wanted him to be there with her. "You don't have to."

"Of course I will. I could do with the holiday." He joked, relieving some of the tension that had been between them ever since Faith had first told him the truth.

"Not that you've done anything to deserve it." Faith returned lightly. "I mean, what do you actually do around here?"

"I'll have you know I am a valued member of the staff." Xander said haughtily.

"Oh yeah?" She snorted.

"Yes." Xander returned certainly.

She returned his smile. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Come here." He held his arms out, trying to draw her in for a hug.

Faith froze for a moment. She didn't do the touchy-feely stuff. Almost of their own accord, her legs moved forward towards him.

He pulled her close, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He didn't let her go until he heard her muffled voice speaking into his chest. "What?"

She looked up at him and blushed. "When I'm with you, I feel safe."

He gave her his lopsided grin. "I feel pretty safe with you too, what with the super powers and everything."

She was still looking at him. Xander swallowed a lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. There was nothing more that he wanted than to just kiss her right there and then. But he couldn't. She was going through too much at the moment; he didn't want to take advantage of her. She needed him as a friend more than anything, he felt like a jerk for even thinking that there could be anything more.

Instead, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead in a brotherly way and stepped back slightly.

"I'll book us on the next flight."

She took a deep breath. This was what she wanted, right? "Great."

"It'll be okay, Faith." Xander said sincerely before backing out of the room, putting some space, not to mention a solid oak door, safely between them. He leant back against the wall, banging his head against the cool stone and trying to reel in his emotions.

He loved her; and that was why they couldn't be together.

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Next chapter will be up soon. Please Review!


	5. Things weren't Always Easy for Princess

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine (especially the scene at the end which is copied from The OC). Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews- there should be responses waiting in your inboxes for everyone who gave signed reviews.

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**5- THINGS WEREN'T ALWAYS EASY FOR THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS…**

"We're booked on the 9.10 tomorrow morning."

Faith nodded, taking a steadying breath. "Still got time to back out then?" She joked feebly.

"You think I'd let you? I'll drag you on unconscious if I have to."

Faith snorted. "I'd like to see you try."

"Hey, I work out!"

"Have you developed supernatural speed? Because that's all that'll save you."

Xander looked offended for a moment, before shrugging. "Fair do's. I'll see you in the morning. Around half seven?"

Faith nodded slowly. "I'll be ready."

Xander went back to his silent room. He leant back against the cool wood door and exhaled slowly. Tomorrow he would find out if he'd set Faith up for the biggest fall of her life.

He'd been so busy trying to persuade Faith to find her family, so sure that it was the right thing to do, that he hadn't even considered that they might not accept their daughter back into their lives, especially when they found out what she did for a living. Or when they find out what she'd done in the past, especially with her father being a lawyer.

There were so many reasons why they could turn her away. Buffy's dad put her in an asylum when she tried to tell him; her mother threw her out of the house when she found out the truth. What was to stop Faith's family from doing the same, especially after their daughter dropped off the face off the earth eleven years ago as far as they knew?

From what Faith had told him, the Cohen's were a great family. He could tell that there had been a lot of love around for the first years of her life. They might be so glad to have her home that they don't even mind about the slaying or the jail term. Hopefully.

It could all go disastrously wrong, but he had to stay strong for Faith. There was no going back now.

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The next morning seemed to roll around way too slowly for Faith's liking. She didn't manage to get any sleep all night; a mix of excitement and total dread had her stomach churning. Half of her wanted to curl back up in her safe warm bed; the other half wished she was in Newport Beach right now. But she was determined to go through with the trip. She sat on her bed staring at the wall in front of her, a suitcase packed by the door and a small carry on bag next to her on the bed. She checked her watch for the millionth time that day. Xander would be here any minute.

As if on cue, someone rapped sharply on the door. It was Xander.

When he saw the bags all packed and ready to go he smiled. "You're ready to go then?"

Faith nodded. "Let's do this."

"Buffy says 'good luck.'" Xander commented as Faith went to pick up her bag.

She turned to him, hurt showing on her face. "You told her?"

"No, of course not. I just said we were going away for a while and I think she guessed something was up."

"Oh; sorry."

He just smiled, showing her that she didn't need to worry about offending him. "Let's go."

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Ta-ta-ta-tap. Ta-ta-ta-tap. Ta-ta-ta-tap. Ta-ta-ta-tap.

"Faith!" Xander put his hand on top of hers, forcing her to stop rapping her nails against the little fold down table on the plane.

"Sorry." After a few moments of fidgeting, Faith started biting her finger nails.

Xander sighed. "What's up?"

"Nothing." He gave her a look. "I think I knew I'd have to do this one day, you know? Sooner or later I'd have to go home. But there was always something to do to put it off; slaying, prison, the First, rebuilding the Council, helping Angel defeat the evil lawyers, helping Angel rebuild Angel Investigations, teaching the newbies. But it was always this distant elephant."

"What?"

"A distant elephant. You know, like when you see an elephant in the distance it looks really tiny and then you get close to it, suddenly it's not so tiny."

"Okay…so your family are distant elephants?" Xander asked confused.

"They were. Now they're great big, close up elephants that are standing right on the only path through the desert."

"I see." Xander said, though he clearly didn't.

"No, you don't." Faith said, not bothering to explain it any further. "How do you think they'll react when I tell them what I've done?"

"You don't have to tell them anything you don't want to. The Council wiped your record and Willow took care of the recognising you from the news thing. It could just disappear if that's what you want."

"I don't think it can." Faith looked out the window, watching as the tiny buildings below got bigger and bigger as they descended. "We're getting ready to land."

"There'll be a car waiting for us at the airport." Xander said quietly, watching for Faith's reaction. "They'll take us to Newport Beach."

"Right." She kept looking out the window, watching the strip of grey approach.

With a slight bump they landed and were taxiing around the tarmac. As the plane slowly came to a stop, Xander got up and pulled his bag from the overhead locker. Faith was still looking out the window, not moving to get off the plane.

"Faith?"

Her head snapped round. "Huh? Oh, right."

Faith didn't really remember what happened next. She knew they got off the plane and collected their bags, but it passed in a swirling mass of colour to her. They were soon sitting in a big black car, courtesy of the Watchers Council, and on their way to the Cohen household, Newport Beach.

They drove through up the hill towards a set of iron gates marked 'Pelican Cove'. The driver flashed his Watchers Council badge at the doorman allowing them entry into one of Newport's most exclusive areas. As they continued up the hill and the first of the perfect white mansions came into view, Faith started to fidget again. They were getting close.

Xander reached over and placed a comforting hand on hers. He smiled reassuringly. "It'll all work out. They'll be so pleased to see you."

Faith just nodded, not sure she trusted her voice to stay steady if she attempted to actually speak.

"It'll be fine."

"Maybe."

"It will be, you've got to stay positive." Xander said, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look at him.

"Jesus Xander, this is so hard. So many things could go wrong and then it'll be even worse than if I never came here."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. I've been gone for more than ten years, they won't recognise me, and they probably think I'm dead for Christ's sake. They might not believe that I'm me, they could chuck me out into the street like I'm nothing to them. But let's say they do believe me, then what? What about when they ask what I've been doing for then last decade? Do I tell them about the slaying and the demons? Or do I just mention the fact that I'm a murderer who should be doing time, but broke out of a L.A. prison to help out my vampiric friend who was trying to kill everyone, much like I'd tried to do a few years previously? How do I tell them any of that? The Council already told me they don't like the slaying idea." Faith ranted, losing her cool for a moment.

Xander blinked. "You should tell them really slowly. And in small instalments."

Faith smiled despite herself. "Yeah, maybe I could use sock puppets."

"Puppets are always fun." Xander quipped. "Just ask Angel."

"Yeah," she snorted in a very unladylike way; "I don't think he found it fun though."

"Well I would. If only I could have been there, I have a feeling that Wolfram and Hart's CCTV footage just don't do him justice." Xander sighed.

Faith laughed. "You always know how to make me feel better."

"It's what I do- comic relief and fixing windows." Xander said with a grin.

"You're more than that."

They were quiet for a minute, neither knowing what else to say, until the car shuddered to a halt outside a large mansion.

"This is it." Faith muttered, the churning stomach now replaced with a total numbness. She didn't know which she preferred better.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Xander asked, not sure whether she wanted him to intrude on the moment.

She nodded, grasping his hand tightly. They walked up the path and onto the porch. Faith looked back at Xander who nodded encouragingly before knocking on the door to the Cohen house.

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"Alright, dinner time. How do you feel about chicken parm?" Sandy asked as he put his bags down on the kitchen table.

Kirsten didn't move, she kept looking at the papers in front of her. "That is simply unacceptable!"

"Hey don't look at me; I'm the one who wanted Thai!" Sandy said as he got the plates out. As much as he missed his wife with all the extra work she had been doing for the launch of Newport Living, he was grateful that it gave her something to focus on other than her dreams. She was even starting to act a little more like the Kirsten they all knew and loved. Luckily the boys seemed to buy the 'tired from work' line he'd spun them.

"Carter, I'm gonna have to call you back." Kirsten pulled the ear piece out of her ear and hung up her phone.

"You're off the phone!" Sandy said in mock surprise. "I barely recognise you without a wire coming out of your ear!"

Kirsten walked over to him and helped dish up the takeaway. It was taking less and less of an effort to keep acting like normal as the days went past. "I'm sorry, it's just that we're unveiling the magazine in exactly sixty seven hours, at which point I will have some semblance of a life back."

"Ah well, here's hoping!"

The couple looked up as they heard their son approaching. "… I was kicking your ass and every time I do that you pause it." Seth said, picking up a plate of food.

Ryan took one of the plates Sandy offered him. "Thank you, I'm starving. See you later."

Sandy stood in front of his family, blocking their exit from the room. "Whoa, no way, sorry. _This_ is a family dinner."

"Ohh the sneak attack family dinner. Dude, we walked right into it." Seth said, making a face at his 'brother'.

"I have to work." Kirsten tried.

"Yeah and Ryan and I are in the middle of a very crucial playstation game."

Ryan nodded. "It's kind of like the super bowl."

"I don't care, nobody here eats tonight unless we sit down and eat as a family, _no_ excuses, tonight and together, now sit down everybodyc'mon." Sandy pointed to the dining table. It was the perfect time to remind Kirsten of what she still had.

"Great" Ryan muttered, taking his seat across from Kirsten.

"And you too." Sandy said noticing his son's reluctance.

Seth reluctantly took his place opposite his father. "Mm family times always best when it's _forced_."

"You're not going to be invited on the family trip I'm planning." Sandy threatened, but Seth just laughed. "Ryan, have you ever seen Mount Rushmore?"

They were interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

Kirsten turned around. "Oh, that could be to do with work."

"Summer gets really mad in I'm not available."

"Yeah and Marissa's supposed to come over."

Sandy got up, quelling his family's protests. "I will get the door. Nobody's leaving, this is a family dinner."

He pulled open the white door sharply. "Hello?"

There were two people standing there that he didn't recognise. A girl of about twenty and a boy of about the same age standing behind her.

"Can I help you?"

The guy nudged her slightly causing the girl to slip out of her reverie.

"Err yes. I thought I better come and see you, that is to tell you…what I mean is…" The girl trailed off, her eyes on the floor. Her companion put a hand on her shoulder which seemed to give her comfort and she was able to life her eyes to look directly into his own. "I'm Faith."

For the first time in his life, Sandy Cohen fainted.

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_Next chapter:_ Faith finally meets her family and Xander and Faith get closer. I've already started it, so look for an update in about a week.

Please Review!


	6. But they Never Stopped Fighting

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews- there are only so many time you can see 'go write' in a review before you actually start writing, hence the early update.

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**6- BUT THEY NEVER STOPPED FIGHTING…**

"I'm Faith."

For the first time in his life, Sandy Cohen fainted.

Faith darted forward, making the use of her slayer speed and strength to catch her father in her arms. She lowered them to the floor with a gentle thud.

"Well, I think he remembers you." Xander said dryly. "Know I know where you get the fall-asleep-when-things-get-tough gene from."

"What do we do now?" Faith said urgently, totally ignoring his comments.

"I don't know," Xander whispered back. "I wasn't exactly expecting him to pass out the moment he saw you, Faith!"

"Oh my God!"

Faith whipped her head around and came face to face with her mother for the first time in years.

Kirsten stood there, staring at the girl kneeling on the floor next to her unconscious husband, feeling torn between disbelief, uncertainty and joy. "Is it…"

Faith opened her mouth to confirm the half-question, but no sound came out. Xander shuffled on his feet, wishing for the umpteenth time that week to know what to say to make things right. But he couldn't.

Sandy started to stir. He sat up, looking into the nervous eyes that were so like his own. "Faith?"

She nodded, unable to say anything more.

He let out a short laugh. "Whatever happened to you?" He asked before pulling her towards him in a bone crushing hug.

Xander smiled at the reunion. Sandy let go of Faith after a minute and she turned to where her mother was still frozen to the spot.

"Mom?" It was a single word, but it had a big effect on Kirsten. She rushed forward and embraced Faith.

"I can't believe it. I can't believe it." She muttered.

Seth came out into the hall only to see his mother crying and hugging a girl he had never seen before. "Dad? What's going on?"

Faith stepped back next to Xander and wiped the tears from her face embarrassed.

"Seth, this is your sister." Sandy said.

Seth looked at the brunette standing next to his mother in confusion. "What?"

"Go upstairs Seth, Ryan." Kirsten turned to her sons in the doorway. "It's okay; we'll talk to you later."

Seth looked at his parents and the two people he'd never seen before…sister? But his mother was using a tone that there was no point arguing with. He looked to Ryan behind him who looked just as confused as he felt. "We'll be in the pool house."

The four people left in the hall stood around awkwardly. Now what?

Sandy cleared his throat. "Shall we go and sit down?"

Faith grabbed Xander's hand and pulled him along, letting him know that she didn't want him to leave just yet. When they sat down Kirsten gave them a pointed look.

Faith got the hint. "Oh right. This is Xander; he's a good friend. He kinda convinced me to come here."

"Hello Xander, it's nice to meet you." Kirsten said in a falsely cheerful voice while Sandy opted for a nod and a smile.

Neither knew what to say, how to act. Should they try to act normal? What was normal? Kirsten managed to resist the temptation to pinch herself, this wasn't a dream, it was really happening. Sandy couldn't help but stare. How had he missed it? The only difference in the way Faith looked was that she had gotten older; he should have recognised her.

It was an effort for Faith to sit still under her parents' scrutiny. She'd give anything to know what they were thinking, for this awkward silence to be over and for them to just tell her it was okay, that they loved her and wanted her to stay.

"What happened?" Sandy asked, getting straight to the point as usual.

"Sandy!" Kirsten scolded; the last thing she wanted to do was scare her away again. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"She disappeared for more than ten years, Kirsten. We thought she'd been kidnapped. I want to know where my daughter's been for the last ten years, what's wrong with that?" Sandy hissed, though not unkindly.

Faith stepped in; he had a right to ask his questions. "No, it's okay, really. I didn't want to leave, but I wasn't really given much choice. That day, when I was walking home from school, the Watchers Council jumped me and pulled me into their car. They told me that I was a potential slayer and took me to live with another family whilst I got trained."

She stopped for a breath and was immediately bombarded by questions from her parents.

"The Watchers Council?" "Who are potential slayers?" "Trained for what?"

"I'm not great at explaining things. Xander, you took the watcher training. You tell it."

Xander took a deep breath to begin the traditional watchers spiel. "Into each generation the slayer is born. She will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of evil. The slayer acts under the guidance of her watcher who will train her until she is ready to fight. There are currently seventy four slayers in the world. Faith is the second longest serving slayer and one of the best the world has ever seen."

The Cohen's just stared at him. "You're kidding, right?"

"He's deadly serious." Faith said, trying to guess their reactions. Would they believe her? Would her throw her out like Joyce had when she found out about Buffy? Had they known all along or were the watchers lying to her? "I was chosen to protect the world and after I was called when I was sixteen there was only one other slayer so I couldn't turn my back on it. About a year ago the numbers went up which is why I could take the time off to come down here."

"Oh my God, they were telling the truth." Kirsten muttered.

"Who were?"

"Before you vanished, we were contacted by an organisation called the Council. They said what you'd just said. I thought they were joking. We should have let them, then they wouldn't have had to…"

Sandy pulled his wife into him as she trailed off. "We didn't know."

"The Council visited you?"

"They wanted to train you." Sandy said gruffly. "We had no idea they were serious. We told the police when you first went missing, but they still couldn't find you."

"The police answer to the Council. If they wanted Faith hidden then no one would find her; not you, not the police, not even the FBI." Xander said quietly. "But it's not like that anymore. We've taken over the Council so now no one else will be taken from their families."

"So you believe me?" That was Faith's biggest fear. Well, one of them anyway.

"Did you think we wouldn't?"

She shrugged. "You might have wanted a DNA test or something or thrown me in the nut house. I know how it sounds."

Sandy laughed at her bluntness. "Look at you; you haven't changed that much and there had to be a pretty good reason why you never came home."

Tears started pouring down Kirsten's face again. Sandy draped his arm around her shoulders, still staring in wonderment. His brain refused to function properly, there was so much he wanted to say but his mouth couldn't form the words.

"Maybe we should go back to the hotel and you can come back tomorrow." Xander suggested in the silence that followed. They'd established contact, which had proved to be more emotional than he'd thought, so it wouldn't be as hard to go back.

Faith nodded. "Okay. Is that okay, if I come back tomorrow?"

"Of course; I think we could all do with some space to get used to things. But don't think you're getting away that easily, we'll be expecting you tomorrow." Sandy answered for all of them.

Faith nodded again and smiled. "Right then; I'll see you tomorrow."

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"So that went pretty well." Xander said, throwing his jacket down on the chair.

"Hmm." Faith agreed, mirroring his actions.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I was just thinking how different things would have been if they'd have just let the Council train me when they asked. We might have never had to go through that."

"I bet they're thinking the same thing and beating themselves up over it. They've obviously missed you a lot."

Faith smiled, remembering her family's reaction to seeing her. "Yeah, they haven't forgotten me."

"Did you honestly think they would? You are their daughter and no amount of time will change that."

She felt a familiar wetness on her cheeks. She was crying again. "I've been doing way too much of this lately." She muttered embarrassed. She'd found her family now, was there really any need for this anymore?

"It's okay. Faith, you're going through a lot; I'd be more surprised if you weren't a little overwhelmed. But the worst is over."

"But there's still so much to tell them, so many things that I've done. I'm a murderer."

Xander grabbed her shoulders. "Don't call yourself that. What you did was a long time ago and it wasn't really your fault."

Faith looked down. She hated talking about her past. "There are no excuses for trying to kill you and the others. I can't justify it, I wouldn't try to."

"Don't even start that. Okay, so you can tell them when the time's right, and only if you want to when it comes down to it. It's the past. They won't turn away from you, they love you." He hugged her. "Stop worrying."

She felt him release her. "Why are you so good to me?"

Xander smiled back and stated honestly, "Because you deserve nothing less."

An embarrassed smile crossed the slayer's face that made Xander's smile grow even wider. He liked the new Faith; she had emotions and seemed like an actual human being.

"Thank you," leaning in Faith felt Xander wrap his arms around her body as she snuggled into his chest.

She felt him start to pull away as he always did. She knew why; he wanted to protect her, that's what he'd said. But she wasn't having that any more. She kept hold and looked up, her eyes conveying her feelings. She loved him and she wasn't going to let go. "No."

Xander closed his eyes and savoured the moment, he never wanted to let go of it; it was like one of those freeze frame moments that he'd seen on television so many times. He began to pull away gently, but she stopped him. He looked down into her eyes, they always gave away what she was feeling and now was no exception- "No;" don't go. He stroked her hair gently around her ear revealing her face to him.

Faith could feel butterflies in her stomach as she stared up into Xander's gaze, his arms always made her feel more secure, as if nothing in the world could hurt her. She'd never really taken the time to get to know Xander when she was first in Sunnydale, sure they had spoken occasionally and there was that one 'incident' but now it was hard to imagine him not being a part of her life.

In perfect unison they both leaned in, until their lips met in a long overdue kiss.

They were together. Finally.

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Sappy, huh? Review!

_Next chapter (cause I have actual chapter summaries now!): Faith meets Seth and Ryan and explains a few things to her parents._


	7. Side by Side

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**A/N:** Sorry about the wait- RL is manic at the moment. Thanks for all of your comments and advise on the last chapter, keep it coming.

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**7- SIDE BY SIDE…**

Seth opened the door. She was back. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Is it true? That you're my sister?"

Faith nodded uncomfortably. She'd kept a secret for so many years and now it seemed like everyone knew.

Now they were both uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, I don't remember."

"It's okay. It was a long time ago." Deep down, she was disappointed. She was his sister and he didn't remember her, but rationally she knew that he was only a young kid when she vanished from his life.

"So I've heard. But you're gonna be sticking around for a while, right?" Seth asked hopefully. Ryan wasn't the only one who was tired of people leaving.

Faith looked back at Xander who she'd insisted come along again. They hadn't really discussed how long they were staying for, he'd just promised to stay for 'as long as she needed'. Xander gave a slight nod of encouragement.

"Yeah, I'm staying for a while."

Seth grinned. "Cool. Well I'm Seth. It's nice to meet you…again." He held out his hand for her to shake, still smiling. Well, thinking about everything that went on in Orange County it wasn't that weird and it seemed to be the year for unearthing long-lost relatives; first the Lindsey aunt-who's-more-like-a-sister fiasco and now the older-sister-returning-after-ten-years debacle.

"I know who you are, Seth." Faith replied, shaking his hand bemused. He seemed to be taking this all in his stride, much better than she expected. "This doesn't bother you?"

"I shall have to tell you the tale of Grandpa's illegitimate love child some time. Add an Atwood into the equation and you'll see that I'm pretty used to new family members."

Faith blinked. "Okay."

Seth heard Ryan moving behind him. "Have you met Ryan?"

"Who's Ryan?"

"I'll take that as a no. Ryan- get over here! Mom and Dad adopted him a couple of years ago after Dad got him out of juvie."

Ryan's smile dimmed slightly. "Okay, I hate it when you introduce me like that."

"Sorry man," Seth said, not sounding sorry in the slightest.

"Nice to meet you."

Ryan shook Faith's hand, not noticing the odd expression on her face.

"You've err, got a great family."

Faith sighed. "So I'm told. Talking of, are they here?"

Seth ushered them in. "Yeah, I'm surprised Mom didn't run out as soon as she heard the door."

"Your Dad's probably holding her back." Ryan said before turning to Xander. "Hi."

Xander grinned. "Xander. I'm Faith's chaperone."

"Hey!"

Xander grabbed her arm. "Maybe I should leave, give you some time with your family."

"You're part of my family." Faith protested instinctively. "I mean, I want you here."

"If that's what you really want, then I'll stay. I promised I would, didn't I? But I just think you could do with some time with your parents."

"You can hang with us if you want. How do you feel about video games?" Seth offered.

Xander looked to her hopefully.

Faith nodded. "You're probably right. Go, have your dorky fun."

"Hey!" Came Xander and Seth's responses, while Ryan sighed resignedly.

"Mom and Dad are in the kitchen."

"Right." Faith said, but made no move towards the kitchen.

"Go on, it'll be okay. I'll be right here if you need me." Xander said and, mindful that Seth and Ryan were still standing right there, dropped a gentle kiss onto her cheek.

She nodded and Xander watched her walk into the kitchen before turning to Seth and Ryan. "Okay, what are we playing?"

"It's up to you; we have a lot of stuff."

Xander smiled. "The advantage to being rich as a king."

"One of 'em. So you and my sister, eh?"

Xander blushed. "Not exactly."

"That's a yes, right Ryan?"

"Absolutely." Ryan said giving Xander a sympathetic smile. He knew what it was like to be on the wrong end of Seth's questions.

"We're taking things pretty slow." Xander admitted.

"Slow is good, but not too slow or you'll end up like Ryan and Marissa."

"Nothing's happening, Seth." Ryan ground out. Xander got the impression that this was a long standing argument between the two of them.

"Sure, whatever. The thing is," Seth turned back to Xander; "I feel it is my duty as long lost brother to warn you. If you hurt her, then I will set Ryan on you. And Summer in one of her rage blackouts." Seth finished with a dramatic shudder.

Xander laughed. "Trust me when I say that Faith can look after herself. I mess her about and you'll be finding parts of me for weeks."

"Well, that's alright then." The conversation lapsed into silence, which, of course, Seth had to fill.

"So, dude, what's with the eye patch?" Seth asked with his usual amount of tact. "Is it some bizarro fashion statement? I can't see Summer going for it."

Xander laughed nervously. "How much did your parents tell you about why Faith had to leave?"

"Not much." Seth looked at him suspiciously. When his parents had explained who Faith was to him he'd know they were leaving something out. Now his curiosity had resurfaced. "Why? What happened?"

"Not my story. Car accident, I don't really like to talk about it."

"Oh. I'm sorry, man. I didn't-"

Xander waved off his apology with a wave of his hand. "Forget it. Where are we playing?"

"The pool house."

"Pool house? Cool!"

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"…And I lived with them for about six years getting trained for what I might become. Then when I was sixteen I was called and moved to Sunnydale to help out the slayer, Buffy."

"What happened to Thomas and Jane? Do you still see them?" Kirsten asked gently.

"They're dead. They were killed by vampires just after I was called." Faith spoke into her lap, not looking up at her parents.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, they weren't very nice people."

Sandy and Kirsten shared significant looks. They guessed there was something more that Faith wasn't telling them, but they knew enough not to push her.

"The Council told me that you knew all about the slaying."

"We knew some of it." Sandy revealed. "A watcher came to our house and told us that you were different and need to be trained for what you might become at a special school in England. We didn't believe him and sent him away. He kept coming back, and eventually we started to wonder but by then it was too late. A week after the first visit you were taken."

"They told me that you didn't want to take the risk of having a demon-magnet in your home." Faith said quietly, trying to gage their reaction.

"They said we didn't want you? Why would they do that?" Kirsten said upset.

Sandy thought about it for a brief moment. It was obvious really. "So Faith wouldn't want to find us. They didn't want their warrior distracted, am I right?"

Faith nodded slowly. "We weren't meant to have friends or anything. That's one of the things that's different now. So you wouldn't have minded?"

"We would never have disowned you." Kirsten vowed, meaning it wholeheartedly.

There was a silence as Faith thought about what her mother had just said. Would she still stand by that when she told them about her past? Faith honestly didn't know, she didn't dare to hope.

Sandy cleared his throat. "So have you been in Sunnydale since you became a slayer?"

Faith started to nod, but then shook her head. It was time to come clean, it was better they reject her now then later when she got used to the idea of having a family again. "Actually no; I was in LA for a while… in prison."

"What did you do?" Sandy asked evenly. He'd seen enough during his time as a public defender to know that a jail sentence did not automatically mean a bad kid. Ryan was an example of that. He would not jump to conclusions.

"I was out with Buffy, the other slayer, and we came across a bunch of vampires." Faith started, watching for their reactions carefully. "We'd just got the last of them when something snuck up behind me so I staked it on instinct. I thought it was a vampire, but it was the deputy mayor. He died."

"So you went to jail for that? But it wasn't your fault!" Kirsten protested.

Sandy breathed a sigh of relief. He could deal with that. It was an honest mistake, she thought her life was in danger and reacted accordingly.

"The courts don't really believe in vampires, but that wasn't exactly the reason. After that happened, I got dangerous for a while. I felt like an outsider, I was always alone so the mayor of Sunnydale took me in, but he turned out to be a demon so he probably wasn't the best influence, but he took care of me when I had no-one else. I helped him out and that turned Buffy, Xander and their friends against me."

They were watching her. Sandy kept his face carefully blank while Kirsten looked close to tears. Neither of them looked like they hated her so she continued.

"Things got pretty bad for a while. He convinced me to shoot Buffy's boyfriend, Angel, with a poisonous arrow."

"Did he die?" Sandy asked neutrally. Inside his brain was whirling, but he kept it all hidden. How were you meant to react when your daughter tells you that she was in league with a demon and tried to kill a person.

"Oh no, he's a vampire."

He blinked, surprised. "Aren't you guys meant to kill them?"

"He turned good a long time ago, except for a couple of relapses. He has a soul now. Anyway, Buffy had to get the blood of a slayer to counteract the poison so she stabbed me and then I jumped off a building to get away."

"She stabbed you?" Kirsten gasped.

"Yeah, but I deserved it. I tried to kill her way more than she tried to kill me." For a moment she had forgotten who she was talking to and she lapsed into the easy talk about death and violence she'd gotten used to over the past year.

Kirsten looked a bit faint. "Oh. That's alright then."

Faith had to hide a smile despite the situation and remind herself that what seemed normal to her wasn't necessarily normal for the average person. "When I woke up from the coma, there was this whole body switching incident and I ran away to LA." Faith looked down again. "I hurt people; I almost killed my watcher. And then I begged Angel to kill me."

The next thing Faith knew, her mother had rushed over and was holding her tightly. "Oh honey…"

"I'm sorry."

"What happened then?" Sandy asked, still trying to come to terms with the fact that his only daughter was a criminal.

"Angel let me go. He knew that no prison could hold me if I didn't want to be held. I couldn't live with the guilt anymore, so I handed myself in and went to jail. I stayed there for three years, give or take, until I was needed in the underworld and Wes, my former watcher, busted me out. We saved the world with the help of Willow, one of my former-friends from Sunnydale. She took me back to Sunnydale to help with the First Evil who was trying to end the line of slayers and bring about hell on earth. Buffy and I led all the girls with the potential to become slayers down into hell where we fought this ultimate evil and won, but Sunnydale collapsed in on itself. We moved to LA to start rebuilding the Watchers Council (the old one got blown up) and now we're scattered all over the world." Faith finished.

There was a long pause.

"And you've never had to go back to jail?"

Faith shook her head. "No, the new Watchers Council wiped my record. They decided that helping to save the world and everyone in it twice was a pretty good start to redemption."

"Would you like me to leave?"

Kirsten grabbed her hand over the breakfast bar. "Don't go. I can't loose you again. Right Sandy?"

Sandy stayed quiet.

"Sandy?"

"It's okay, I get it." Faith muttered, she felt her heart break a little bit more.

"Faith, would you wait in the living room for a moment." Kirsten said, her shocked eyes not leaving her husband. She waited until her daughter was safely out of hearing before speaking again and an angry whisper. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that our daughter is a mass murderer who never finished her jail sentence." He said sadly.

"But she's better now. If Xander and his friends can forgive her, then why can't you. We weren't even there, Sandy."

"That's not our fault."

"No." Kirsten agreed after a pause. Ever since Faith had returned, Kirsten had been feeling guilty about how they had handled the situation all those years ago when the Watchers Council had made their proposition. If they had have only said 'yes' then everything would be so much easier. She pulled herself out of her thoughts. "I thought you'd be the last person to react like this. After Ryan-"

"Ryan was arrested because of something his brother did. It's hardy the same thing."

"How can you be so cold? This is our daughter, Sandy." Kirsten said incredulously. "I won't give her up again for anything. Not even for you."

With that, Kirsten turned around and went into the living room where Faith was sitting.

"He'll come round." Kirsten said as she saw the stricken look on her face.

She sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

"It would have come out in the end. It's… quite a story."

"You should hear B's." Faith sighed. It wasn't easy to explain her complicated life to someone who didn't even know the basics.

"We dance so close to the darkness every day than sometimes we're bound to cross into it. Andrew tried to rule the world; Giles used to raise demons; Angel and Spike were two of the most feared vampires in the world and killed thousands of people; Willow came pretty close to ending the world with her magic; I went bad; and Buffy died twice and went crazy and tried to kill everyone. At the last count, Dawnie and Xander were the only one's who haven't been evil for a while... And this probably isn't making you feel better so I'll shut up now."

Kirsten just gaped. There was one of those awkward silences which had been ever present over the last twenty four hours.

Well, silence until a hesitant voice came from the doorway.

"You live outside our reality. You have your own laws."

Faith and Kirsten turned around like a shot to see Sandy standing there, leaning against the doorframe.

"But there are still some things that can't be fixed." Faith said evenly. She still didn't really know how he felt and he wasn't given anything away, but the fact that he was standing there had to be a good sign.

"It's the past, Faith." Sandy said, crossing over to her and putting his hand on her shoulder. He'd heard some of the details on the grapevine; the case of a messed-up teenage killer with almost unnatural speed and strength was unusual and he'd be surprised if lawyers everywhere hadn't heard it. He'd known at the time that there had to be another side to the story, just like with every one of his clients, but he couldn't hazard a guess as to what. Until now. "I'm not even going to pretend to understand, but it seems to me that you and your friends have been living in a different world to ours, a world with your own laws and punishments. We want you to be a part of this family, Faith. We're rather fond of fresh starts."

Faith blinked back tears, determined not to cry again. "Yeah, I've met Ryan. But this is a little bit different."

"He's a good kid. Just like you are. That's all I need to know. Will you be part of this family?"

Faith looked up at her father's strong, welcoming face and at her mother's almost desperate eyes, her hand still clinging onto hers. "I'd like that."

Kirsten wrapped her arms around Faith in another hug. "Welcome home, Faith."

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Next chapter: Sunnydale life catches up with our heroine…

Please review!


	8. For What they Believed in

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews, please keep up the suggestions- they really halp make he story better.

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**8- FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVED IN…**

The gaming trio looked up at the knock on the door.

"Hi Faith! So how'd the bonding talky talk go?" Seth asked with a grin.

Faith looked at him, trying to gage whether he was being insensitive or if that was just his way. She decided on the latter. "Fine thanks. Xander can I talk to you outside for a sec?"

Xander got to his feet without question. "Sure."

"I told them." Faith blurted out the minute the glass door closed behind them. "About the psycho slayer deal. And they still want me."

Xander grinned wildly. "That's great!" He picked her up and swung her round in a circle. He was now looking through the glass into the pool house where they had an audience. Ryan immediately looked away, but Seth just gave him thumbs up and received a slap from Ryan for his troubles.

"Over here." He led her to the side, away from prying eyes.

Faith raised her eyebrows suggestively. "And what are you planning to do out here, all alone where no one can see us?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Too late." She reached up to press her lips to his. After a minute, Faith pulled back. "I told Mom and Dad I was going to talk to Seth."

"He's not that interesting." Xander murmured with a smile, dipping his head to kiss her again.

"I take it this means you don't regret last night." Faith said when they broke apart. "I really should talk to Seth though. I want to get to know him."

"You should get to know him, and Ryan. They're pretty cool kids."

"That's what Dad said. What?" She asked, seeing Xander's smile.

"I just think it's great the way you're handling this. I mean you've told them the truth and you're already calling them Mom and Dad."

"I've never called them anything else."

"So what are you going to tell Seth and Ryan?"

"The truth. Well, parts of it. Dad said it was okay to tell him about the slayer thing, but he'd rather I tell him an edited version of the slayer gone bad story. He wants us to put it behind us." Faith couldn't stop the smile from spreading her face.

"Then I'll go back to the hotel, let you talk to him alone. If you're okay with that."

Faith thought about it for a while, but the nodded. "I think I can handle two teenage boys."

Xander brushed the hair away from her face, marvelling one again how strongly he'd come to feel for this woman over a relatively short time. "You can do anything you want to."

She grinned up at him. "We won't have a problem then."

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As Xander was walking through the Cohen house, he noticed Sandy staring into space in the living room.

He made his decision and went over to him. "Are you okay, Mr Cohen?"

Sandy looked up, surprised to see him standing there. "Yeah; it's just a lot to get used to."

Xander nodded and took a seat opposite the older man. "I would imagine so."

"You don't think so?"

"This has been my life since I was sixteen. That's eight years of crazy. I can't imagine my life without it anymore."

"Where as I can't imagine it at all, even with all she's told me… and what I read."

"What do you mean?" Xander asked when Sandy offered no further explanation.

"Faith was on the news, in the papers, everything. The hunt for a sixteen-year-old serial killer is fairly big news especially when she has no problems killing men twice her size. Every time I see a case like that I always blame the parents. But Faith didn't have any then." He picked up his glass from the table and downed the whiskey within with a small grimace.

"I'm surprised you even remember reading it. Our friend Willow cast a spell so that no one would recognise Faith from when she was in the news. It must wear off if you know the truth."

Sandy stared at the younger man. Demons, murders, spells… it was all too much for him to comprehend. Up until yesterday, he'd pushed all thoughts of anything supernatural to the back of his mind. Now it was all back out there in massive proportions.

"Magic." Xander said by way of explanation, although it wasn't the most comfortable one in the world.

"Faith said she tried to kill you."

"She did; a long time ago. If I gave up on all my friends that tried to kill me then I wouldn't have any left."

"What's she like?" Sandy asked finally.

"Hasn't she told you?"

"She told us what she's done, not what she's like. You two are together right?"

Xander found himself blushing. "Yes. Only very recently though."

Sandy found himself smiling at Xander's reaction. "That's good. You seem like a good guy, she needs that. Or so I would presume."

Xander paused, unsure of how to react. "She's changed a lot in the last few weeks; actually, she hasn't really stopped changing since I've known her. She's one of the strongest people I know, she came back to help us even though she knew she'd probably die doing so. She's brave too- she stayed in the hellmouth as everything collapsed in around her just to help get a few girls out that she'd only known for a couple of weeks."

"Go on." Sandy urged him.

"There was a time when she had everyone believe that she's as tough as she pretends she is, but those of us that know her well know she's not like that. Most of the new slayers she trains are either in total awe or petrified of her, most are a mixture of the two. A few others and I know there's more to her than that. She cares about people, why else would she bother to save the world? She's scared of being rejected and works on the basis that it's better to hurt someone before they can hurt you. She's hasn't been happy since we met her, but I think that's about to change. But she's terrified that you will turn her away."

"She doesn't need to worry about that."

Xander shrugged. "It's not me you have to convince. She's been let down a lot, how many times I'm not sure, but it has to be a lot to trust a demon just because they offer you a place to stay and a bit of attention. Anyway, it wouldn't hurt to tell her."

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"So Xander's pretty cool." Seth said to fill the awkward silence that had fallen.

"Well, cool's not really the word I'd use, but yeah." Faith said with a snort. "Mom and Dad, well they thought you might have some questions."

"Maybe I should go, let you two get to know each other again." Ryan stood up to leave, but Faith gestured for him to stay.

"From what I hear, you're part of this family. And it's such a long story to tell twice."

"She speaks the truth, my friend. Come; sit." Seth patted the bed next to him getting a strange look from Faith, but he ignored it. "Why did you leave?"

"I didn't want to, believe me."

"Then why didn't you come back?"

"It wasn't that easy. I had a job, I had to take care of people and it wasn't something that anyone else could take over for me."

Seth and Ryan exchanged looks. They could tell by the tone of her voice that it was something serious. "What was it?"

She took a deep breath. One thing Sandy had told her was that Seth was good at adapting to things, he'd accepted that he had a sister within a few hours and only yelled at his parents for not telling him about her sooner once. They were bound to find out sooner or later, and the Council had no qualms about family knowing the truth about the slayer calling.

"I'm a slayer."

"A what now?"

Faith took a deep breath. "A slayer. A girl given special powers by the powers that be and chosen to help protect the world from demons."

Seth laughed. "That's a good one, something right out of Atomic County, wouldn't you say Ryan."

Ryan cleared this throat, eyeing Faith carefully. "I don't think she's joking."

Seth turned to him disbelievingly. "Ryan! Of course she's joking! It's no more believable that Cosmo Girl!"

"Who is based on Marissa; a real person. Who would make something like that up? They'd have to be crazy."

"You're telling me you believe this rubbish? And they say I'm weird!" In a way, Ryan's reaction was more surprising than the tale his sister was telling him.

Ryan shrugged, a hand going to the scar at his neck. Faith noticed.

"Did you get bitten?"

Another shrug. His own brother had thought him crazy when he had gone back to the sleazy motel they were staying at in L.A. with blood pouring down his neck saying that he'd been attacked by a freakishly strong man with fangs and ridges and the only thing which had saved him was another man shoving a stick through it's chest and causing his attacker to vanish.

"I can prove it." Faith offered, resolving to speak to Ryan later. At Seth's disbelieving nod, she went over to him, grabbed his ankle and lifted him into the air upside down.

Seth squeaked finding himself upside down and being held up by his rather weak looking sister. "I think under the circumstance we can give you the benefit of the doubt. Please put me down."

Faith grinned and lightly tossed him on the bed.

Ryan was staring at her wide eyed. "I'd hate to come up against you in a fight."

Her eyes clouded over. "I don't fight humans."

"Wha-" Seth swallowed, trying to find his voice again. "What do you fight?"

"Demons. Mostly vampires, probably only see an actual demon about once a week depending on how many girls we've got out on patrol."

"Demons?" Ryan croaked. It made his life in Chino look functional. And it also meant that he wasn't crazy.

Miraculously, Seth seemed to be taking it all in his stride even if he still didn't really believe her. "So do you, like, save the world?"

"Only three times so far, but I think B's into double figures by now. So is Xander. Mostly it doesn't get onto a global scale… And you were being sarcastic, weren't you?" Faith shrugged. Oh well, the looks on their faces were downright funny. "So… any other questions?"

Seth gaped a bit but recovered admirably. "Just one; how do you feel about water-polo players?"

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When Faith went back into the main house, she was surprised to see Xander still there. "Hi, what are you still doing here? I thought you'd gone back to the hotel."

"I was just talking to your Dad."

Faith looked between the pair, fighting the worry felt by any girl felt when she caught her new boyfriend talking to their father. "You are?"

"Yes he is. I'm going to teach him how to surf." Sandy grinned.

"He's going to try." Xander corrected.

"You're staying?" Faith said with a smile.

"If you'll have me."

"Of course, but aren't you needed back at the centre?"

"I'm here as long as you'll have me here." Xander said firmly. "They'll have to find a new carpenter."

"You're a carpenter?" Sandy asked surprised. He'd assumed that Xander just helped Faith.

"I am. Up until last year, saving the world didn't pay, so we all had to have second jobs. I did carpentry and construction. It comes in helpful when you have to rebuild your house every time a demon comes round too."

"Ryan used to work construction during the summers. He wants to be an architect."

Xander perked up immediately interested. "Oh yeah? I helped design the new Watchers Headquarters, it's a good job."

Faith smiled, it all seemed too natural, like she had never been away. "I hate to break this up, but we've got to go. We have to check in with headquarters; make sure there's nothing big starting."

"Is that likely?" Sandy asked worried.

Xander answered for her. "Not really. At this time of year it's rare for there to be a big uprising and there have been no signs or prophecies that something big is coming."

"It's just to be on the safe side." Faith continued.

"Okay. Will you be coming back tomorrow? We could have that family dinner I've been trying to organise for ages!"

Faith's immediate reaction was to pull away. She'd never really felt comfortable with the family functions, she'd even skipped Christmas dinner with the Scoobs last year. But she was changing a lot over these few days, why stop now? "Sounds great. Is Mom about?"

Sandy smiled; he loved hearing Faith claim them as parents. "No, she had to go to a magazine launch for her work. It's been organised for weeks so she couldn't get out of it without telling your Grandfather something and we didn't really want to set Caleb on you _just_ yet. She would have come to say goodbye, but we thought it would be best to leave you to get to know the boys."

"That's fine, I'll see her tomorrow."

Five minutes later, Faith and Xander were walking down the driveway and out of Pelican Cove where their hire car would be waiting- a Watchers Council car visiting the Cohen house once was fine, but every day would raise suspicions.

As they were walking, Faith looked suddenly over to the left and stiffened.

"Get down!"

He obeyed without question, dropping to the floor and rolling out of the way as Faith jumped over him and staked the vampire trying to sneak up on them in one fluid movement.

Xander watched another approach and swing a punch at Faith's cheek, ready to jump in and help if it looked like Faith needed it. But that vampire soon found itself on the pointy end of a stake.

Recognition dawned on the second vampires face a moment before he was dust. "Not you!"

"Are there anymore?" Xander asked, craning his neck around to try and see what his eye patch prevented.

"No." Faith offered her hand to Xander and pulled him up. "What the fuck was that?"

"That was a vampire, Faith." Xander said patronisingly.

"You don't say! But what was it doing in Newport? There's no hellmouth here!"

Xander shook his head. He had no more idea than she did. "Are you okay?"

She reached up to find a small cut on her cheek where the second vampire had managed to get in a lucky hit. She could feel a bruise forming which would look lovely tomorrow, but she shrugged it off casually. "I'm fine. Didn't even feel it."

"Do you ever?" Xander rolled his eyes at her blasé attitude, but turned serious quickly. "Now we really need to speak to Giles."

Faith sighed. "You can take the girl out of Sunnydale…"

"But you can't take the Sunnydale out of the girl." Xander continued with a smirk. "Come on, we better get to work."

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Next Chapter: The Cohen's get a taste of a slayers life.

And yes, I am setting this up so some more characters can make an entrance. Review!


	9. They Faced Amazing Odds

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**9- THEY FACED AMAZING ODDS…**

Faith jumped forward as soon as Xander hung up the phone. "Well? What did he say?"

"Not a lot; there were a lot of pauses where I think he was cleaning his glasses though. He said that there shouldn't be any demons about because a) there's no hellmouth and/or other kind of mystical convergence near by and b) because Orange County isn't known for having a demon population."

"Well that's a big help." She snorted. That was Giles; big on the reasoning.

"Isn't it though? He reckons that maybe they've picked up on the fact that there's a slayer about where there isn't usually one and presumed it's a newbie. They think she'll be an easy kill and they can get instant fame for killing a slayer so until word gets around that it's actually you-"

"They're gonna keep on coming to Newport. Great. It would be no fun if everything went to plan just this once." Faith said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Wouldn't it though? Buffy will go down to the demon bars and spread the news that it's you as soon as she can. But she's tracking a demon."

"Great. Can't one of the other slayers do it?"

Xander shook his head. "No, Buff's the only one with enough credibility to risk going into the bars."

Faith sighed. "So we're likely to come across some more demons before word spreads."

"Shouldn't be too difficult for you to deal with though, they're expecting a new slayer who hasn't had any training. And then they get you- practically ancient and with a lot of experience getting down and dirty with vamps."

"Watch it."

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"You know, you'll have to go see them alone at some point." Xander remarked as they approached the Cohen house for the family dinner.

"I know! But you were invited. It would be rude for you not to turn up." Faith said ringing on the doorbell. She noticed he was looking at her oddly. "What?"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much." He said softly. "I like it."

She reached up to give him a kiss. They were just getting into it, when the door opened to reveal Sandy. Faith jumped back quickly. "Hi."

Sandy's eyebrows were raised to his forehead. "Hello Faith, Xander."

He blushed, feeling like a school boy caught with his hand in the biscuit tin. "Hi."

Sandy took pity on Xander, and gave him a smile. "Well come in. Kirsten was just about to order. I hope you like Thai?"

"Mom still can't cook, huh?" Faith said with a reminiscent smile. She still remembered telling Seth that the reason the food cooked by their Mom tasted so awful was because she made it complete with 'slugs and snails and puppy-dog tails'. He'd been scared for weeks and even burst into tears when his Grandpa had insisted he finish his food that his Mommy had spent so much time over.

"Guess who's here!" Sandy said as they entered the kitchen.

Kirsten's whole face lit up when she saw her daughter and gave her a welcoming hug. Faith looking slightly uncomfortable at the unexpected contact over her shoulder, but hugged her back all the same.

Xander sat at the kitchen table watching Faith and Kirsten talk. He marvelled at how different the Faith he saw now was to the Faith that first arrived in Sunnydale. He doubted very much if this woman would tell the tales of naked crocodile wrestling that the young girl had told years ago. The change wasn't immediate- he'd noticed a difference when she returned to Sunnydale to fight the First. Most noticeably the fact that she wasn't trying to kill everyone, but also that she wasn't completely selfish and reckless like when she left.

She'd changed more in Cleveland. She was responsible (mostly) and patient(ish) with the young slayers. Now she was laughing and joking with her mother as if they'd never been apart, just talking and getting to know each other better.

"So do you have anything you'd like to do here?" Kirsten asked as she pulled a stack of plates out of one of the cupboards.

Faith looked to Xander. They hadn't really talked about what they'd do once they'd found her family. He'd brought her here to do one thing, and so far they'd spent all their time focused on that.

"I thought I might hire a car." Xander said. "I don't like having to rely on the NIWC's chauffeurs to drive us about."

"You can drive?" Kirsten blurted out.

Xander grinned. "Yep, well, better than Faith can at any rate. She forgets that not all drivers have her reactions and tends to speed towards things."

"Hey!"

He smiled at her. "What? It's true!" He noticed Kirsten was still staring at him, the question clear in her eyes. "You can ask how it happened."

Kirsten blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I was just curious. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." She said, although it was obvious she wanted to know.

"About a year ago we were facing the toughest opponent we'd ever faced. We walked into a trap and a lot of our girls got injured. I was helping to get them out when Caleb, one of the minions, caught me and did this."

Kirsten gasped and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Stuff happens."

She nodded dumbly. It hadn't really occurred to her how dangerous Faith's work was and what Xander had been forced to sacrifice really struck her. That old saying popped into her mind, 'it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye'. She'd never been so deluded to think that slaying could actually be 'fun and games', but with the permanent injury to the young man she had come to like and respect she was forced to face up to some things.

The awkward silence was broken by the doorbell.

"That'll be the food." Kirsten said in obvious relief.

When she had left, Xander turned to Faith apologetically. He was a little shaken at having to relive one of the worst experiences of his life, of when he'd been so close to loosing everything. "Sorry, I didn't think she'd take it that badly."

"S'okay. She had to realise eventually, right?" Faith said a little panicked. In her mind she'd told her mother the worst of her life, but Kirsten had seen no evidence of the damage in those cases where as Xander's eye was on plain view.

"Right."

When Kirsten returned with the food, Faith made sure to steer the dinner conversation to more everyday matters. But there was one topic that she wasn't particularly eager to come up- education. She doubted her family would be exactly thrilled to hear that she'd managed to dodge out of high school two years before graduating.

"What about you Faith? Are you doing any college courses?"

Faith shot a quick glare at Xander's smirking face. "I'm not exactly the schooling type."

"Oh really?"

"Well I have a life-long job in slaying, so I never really saw the need to get any qualifications." Faith said diplomatically.

Xander cleared his throat loudly, prompting another glare from Faith.

Sandy eyed them both suspiciously. "And?"

"Technically I may not have finished high school." Faith admitted, glaring at Xander when her parents shared concerned looks.

Seth sent a delighted look at Ryan. "My sister- the high school drop out!"

"And why might that be?" Sandy said, well used to tuning out his son's comments.

"I moved to Sunnydale when I was sixteen and never bothered enrolling. Besides, having a life makes things complicated- you just have to lie and make excuses whenever you have to kill stuff. Are there any more dumplings?" Faith said effectively ending the conversation before the Cohen's could ask any more questions that might result in her revealing certain suspensions and expulsions that she'd rather keep to herself.

They continued eating for a while, chatting and getting to know each other better. But then things started to go wrong.

Faith looked up and out through the glass doors sharply. She turned to the man sitting next to her. "Xander."

He was immediately alert. He knew that tone of voice too well. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure. Vamps I think." She replied in a low voice, still looking out of the door.

"How many?"

Faith shrugged. "Quite a few. I'm picking up on it without even trying."

Sandy noticed his two guests whispering. "Is something wrong?"

His answer was given, not by Faith or Xander, by in the form of a rock sailing through the glass doors in the kitchen with an almighty crash, sending glass shattering all over the door.

Faith was on her feet immediately, Xander not far behind her. They stood at the door looking out into the darkness trying to see what was attacking them.

"What the hell is that all about?" Sandy said coming up behind them.

"Do you have any lights out there?" Xander asked.

Sandy flipped a switch to the left of the door and the garden was lit up showing six figures staring at the house. He gasped. "What are they?"

"Vampires." Faith said as she removed the stakes from where they were hidden on her person and put them in more easily accessible places. "Don't leave the house."

"Faith!"

Kirsten called out to her daughter as she ran out the door, but Xander caught the older woman to prevent her following.

"What are you doing? You can't leave her out there!"

Xander pushed the Cohen's back more firmly. "Faith knows what she is doing. If you go out there then you'll be killed and probably her too. If she actually needs help, then I'll be the first one out there."

Kirsten ceased in her struggling, watching as her daughter staked one of the vampires and kicked another. Sandy was watching frozen from beside the door, much like his sons who had been watching the proceedings in silent disbelief.

Xander let go of Kirsten, satisfied that she wasn't going to do anything reckless and reached for his own stake, ready to jump into the fray if Faith needed him. He winced as Faith took a particularly nasty kick and went flying backwards through the glass doors of the pool house. He held his breath, waiting for her to jump back up.

Sandy darted forward, but was stopped by Xander's arm. "She's hurt."

"She'll get up." Xander countered, and she did.

It was then Xander noticed something he hadn't seen before. There were four more vampires climbing up over the fencing at the back of the garden. He swore under his breath as he noticed that Faith was still trying to dispatch the remaining five vampires that had originally attacked the house. She was holding her own, but had yet to gain the upper hand. If the numbers against her doubled then she'd be killed for sure.

"Stay here." He commanded the Cohen's, hoping to get the fight over with before they got themselves killed. He staked the first vampire as it reached the top of the railings. One down, three to go.

The second vampire landed a few feet away from him and started running at Xander. He rolled out of the way, trying to stick out his foot as he rolled to knock the vampire off balance, but it dodged. One of the vampires joined his comrades in the fight against Faith- in theory; three vampires should be enough to stop one human. The slayer was a much bigger threat.

From where they were watching, Kirsten had hidden her face in her hands, refusing to watch the battle taking place on her lawn.

"She's fine, look." Sandy said as it became obvious to him that Faith was gaining the upper hand against the demons she was fighting.

Kirsten pulled her hands down slowly, a few of her fears subsided. "Oh my God."

She was looking at Xander who was fighting with one vampire as another approached from his blind side. There was no way he could see it coming.

As the vampire broke into a run towards Xander, he threw himself out of the way causing the second vamp to go running directly into the first. They both went to the floor, giving him a chance to stake them. He hadn't lived on the hellmouth for all those years without learning to sense when a vampire was running at him.

He looked over where Faith was fighting to see that she had dusted most of the vampires attacking her and was now down to two. They didn't stand a chance against the second-greatest slayer of all eternity and were dust within seconds.

Faith stood still, catching her breath for a moment before sauntering over to where Xander was leaning against the fence. "You okay?"

"Takes more than a few vamps to take me down. You're bleeding." He gestured to the cuts on her shoulder from where she'd been thrown through the pool house window then raised his hand to touch the cut on her cheek.

Faith shuddered at the soft contact. She'd always said that slaying made her hungry and horny, and that hadn't changed as time went on. "It'll heal."

Sandy's voice broke them out of their reverie. "Is everything okay out there?"

"Yeah." Faith yelled back, not breaking eye contact with Xander. "We're coming in now."

She reached up to brush a quick his against his lips. "Tonight." She promised.

As she walked back into the house, Faith realised Xander wasn't with her. "Aren't you coming?"

"I-" He cleared his throat and started again. "I'm just gonna stay out here for a minute; do a sweep, make sure we haven't missed anything."

She gave him a knowing look. "Yeah, of course."

She went back into the house where her family were waiting. Oh boy- this was not going to be a fun conversation.

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Next Chapter: Faith bonds with her adoptive brother and meets the Gruesome Twosome

Review!


	10. But they Refused to Give in

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**10- BUT THEY REFUSED TO GIVE IN…**

When Faith got back into the house, everyone stared at her in silence for a moment. Seth was the first to speak.

"So they were really vampires?"

"Yeah. They wouldn't usually come to this area and when they find out that it's me here not some kid of a slayer with no idea how to protect herself they should stop."

"Should?" Seth yelped. He didn't really fancy the idea of walking home from school one day and being jumped by a group of demons.

"Will. They will stop." She corrected hurriedly.

"What do they want?"

Faith hesitated, but saw no point in lying. There was really only one realistic explanation anyway. "To kill me."

"Oh." Sandy said, his eyes boggling.

"Look, I'm sorry they came here. It might be better if I left for a while, let you get used to it and then we can talk."

"No," Kirsten protested. "Sandy and I know what you do. We have talked about it and Xander explained a lot."

"Where is Xander? Is he okay?" Sandy asked noticing his absence for the first time.

"He's fine, just checking there's nothing else out there." Faith said dismissively. As she waved her arm, Kirsten noticed the blood on Faith's shoulder.

"You're hurt."

"Not really, it's already started heeling."

Kirsten ignored her and chivvied the slayer upstairs to the bathroom to clean up her cuts, despite constant assurances that she was fine. The last time she had seen her daughter was when she was a small child, she had never been as needy as Seth was at that age, but she had still looked to her mother to make things better. Although Kirsten could see that Faith didn't really need her anymore, there was a little part of her who only saw Faith as that little girl she used to be.

"Where's Faith?" Xander asked when he came in a moment later.

"She's with Kirsten. Cleaning up her cuts."

Xander nodded. "Do you mind if I use your phone? I should really call this in."

"Of course." Sandy murmured, still not really believing what he'd seen.

It was Buffy that picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Buff, it's Xander."

The slayer on the other end of the phone audibly perked up. "Hey Xander. How's Faith?"

"She's fine. Did Giles fill you in on the situation here?" Xander asked getting straight to the point. "We were attacked tonight, yes we're fine. But I don't think this will be the last attack and we may need some help."

There was a pause. "I take it Faith doesn't know about this."

"Not yet."

He heard Buffy sigh down the line. "She won't take it well. You know how she is about her independence, she hates having to be backed up."

"I think she needs it." Xander said firmly. Shortly after the battle with the First, Giles had organized some backup for Faith. She had told him in no uncertain terms to stop meddling and that she could look after herself. Even with all the extra help available now, Faith was still very much a solo-slayer.

"Then I'll be there. I'll bring a couple of slayers." Buffy promised.

"Thanks."

"Angel's visiting too." She added. Xander could hear the smirk in her voice. "I know you'd love to see him."

"Great." Xander said sarcastically. The relationship between him and Angel was just one of those things. He didn't hate him, he'd even gone with Buffy and the slayers to L.A. when Wolfram and Hart had taken off the kid gloves to bail him out, but they would never get along. It was the same with Spike; they couldn't help but bicker, it was in their natures.

When Xander went back to the kitchen, Faith and Kirsten were already there.

"Is everything okay?" Faith asked, seeing his serious look.

"It will be. Buffy's coming here with a couple of slayers to help us out."

She looked hurt. "You called for backup? Without asking me first?"

"I'm a watcher, Faith. That's my job."

"I'm the slayer; it's my job to take them out." She hissed back.

Xander stood his ground. "They'll be here tomorrow afternoon."

"Whatever." Faith stalked out of the door and into the night.

When Xander turned around, he was almost surprised to see the Cohen's standing there. He'd forgotten about them and he'd be willing to bet Faith had too.

"What was that all about?"

He paused, thinking how best to explain the situation. "Faith doesn't like working with the other slayers, she fights better alone. I've requested some extra man power so she's not best pleased right now."

"Aren't you going to go after her?"

"Not in this mood, I prefer my limbs attached thank you very much." Xander said attempting at humour to lighten the mood. He was rewarded by small smiles from her parents. "She'll calm down soon."

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Ryan was on his way back to the pool house when he saw her over the fence at the back of the garden down the bottom of what used to be the Cooper's driveway. He looked down and then back at the pool house, making his decision.

"Hey." He walked towards her. As he got closer he noticed that she was smoking a cigarette and flashed back to his first night in Newport when he'd done the same thing. That was when he met Marissa.

"Hey kid."

They stood there in silence for a while. Ryan didn't mind, he'd never really been a big speaker. Eventually he felt he ought to say something.

"So does that happen a lot?"

Faith didn't say anything as she stamped out her cigarette. "Sometimes it seems like it never fucking stops."

He wasn't offended by the language, there was worse in Chino, but he was a surprised by it. In Newport, the adults generally minded their language around him. "Your friend's pretty worried about you."

"Xander? He knows I can look after myself. Or maybe not." She added remembering the argument which had her storming out of the house in the first place.

"You did a pretty good job of it today from what I saw."

Faith shrugged. "Vampires aren't so tough. They're just the everyday crap. For me anyway. And I'm guessing it's not exactly a new thing for you."

"You could say that." He said evasively.

"Just did. When did you get bit?"

"A couple of years ago when I went to L.A. with my brother. I thought I was going crazy when it attacked me." He recalled with a small smile. It was both comforting and terrifying to know that he hadn't been insane.

"What happened?"

"This guy pulled him off me. He was freaky strong. I ran back to the place we were staying."

"Good move. At least you aren't denying it or freaking out like my Mom and Dad."

"They'll come round." Ryan smirked. "And Seth thought it was better than playstation."

"Yeah, well Seth's one of a kind."

"He's certainly that. He's not like the other rich kids. The one's you just wanna punch." Ryan said thinking back to his first year in Newport.

"Ah yes, them. So you don't punch them then?"

"I'm trying this new thing where I don't hit people." Ryan said as an explanation.

Faith laughed. "Yeah, me too. How's that working out for ya?"

"So far, it's pretty good. It keeps the Cohen's happy."

"What's the story there? Why are you staying here?"

"They didn't tell you?" Ryan said surprised, he'd have expected Sandy to explain why there was a strange guy living with her family.

"Sure I know the story, but there's got to be some reason why you're here. What about your parents?"

"Dad's in jail, so is my brother. God knows where my Mom is. The parents I had before I came here weren't up to much."

Faith nodded sadly. "Mine neither. But now we're here."

"We are. We're lucky." Ryan said in a rare moment of sharing.

Faith thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess we are."

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"Julie, no, I'm sorry, we can't." Kirsten said into the phone, trying to speak over her mother-in-law. "Julie?"

"Who was that?"

"Julie." Kirsten looked sheepishly at Sandy. "I think I may have just agreed to have Marissa for the week."

Sandy blinked. "Here? But what about Faith?"

"I know, I know. She asked for help with something and after the whole porno debacle just I thought she could use a friend. Her and my Dad are going to Europe to lay low for a week. They're dropping Marissa off now."

Sandy briefly consider calling up Julie to tell her that they couldn't take her daughter for the week, but knew that if he did that Marissa would be the one to suffer. He sighed. "I'll tell Ryan to move out of the pool house."

Ryan had reacted in his usual way when Sandy had told him about Marissa staying; silently with one look saying everything.

"I spoke to Faith." He revealed suddenly as Sandy turned to leave the pool house.

Sandy was silent for a moment. "Really? How'd that work out?"

"It was good. Something happened didn't it?"

Sandy was silent again, mentally deliberating what to tell Ryan. He'd never agreed with lying to his kids, but the truth wasn't necessarily something they always needed to hear. "Yes."

"I thought so." Ryan said, not asking anymore questions (which Sandy was grateful for). "She gets stuff that no one else in Newport does."

"You've got a lot in common. You've both been through some… difficult times, and now you're part of this family."

Ryan offered him one of his rare smiles as his zipped up the bag in which he had been putting some of his clothed that he would need whilst Marissa was using the pool house. "Done."

When they were back in the house, Xander was still sitting at the kitchen table waiting for Faith to return. He hadn't told Sandy or Kirsten that he knew Faith was down the bottom of their driveway as he could see the smoke curling up into the night air. He just told them that he knew she would return to the house when she was ready.

"You going somewhere?" Xander asked, seeing the bag.

"Just in with Seth for a few days. Marissa's staying in the pool house."

"The Marissa?"

Ryan sighed. Seth had filled Xander in on the rather long story of his relationship with Marissa. "Yes."

"Well it's a good job there's nothing going on then." Xander said with a smirk. He liked being the older and wiser person in the room. It didn't happen all that often in Cleveland.

"Caleb and Julie are dropping her off anytime now."

"Caleb is Kirsten's dad right? Shall I go and get Faith?"

Sandy nodded. "If you know where she is. She doesn't have to see him yet, lord knows I wouldn't wish the gruesome twosome on anyone, but she can choose whether it be sooner or later."

"I'll go and get her then." Xander said with a sigh. He just hoped she wouldn't hit him too hard.

In the end, it hadn't gone nearly as bad as Xander had feared. Faith had been pretty pissed off at the way he 'went over her head', but the latest developments in her family situation had put everything into perspective.

By the time they went back into the house, Julie and Caleb had arrived. Julie was standing in the kitchen with Sandy as they walked in. She immediately stopped talking and stared. It was obvious she knew who she was.

"Faith, it's so good to have you back hope." She said and although her voice was dripping with sincerity she still seemed fake.

"Thanks."

"It must have been horrible for you, I really can't imagine-"

Sandy noticed Faith had stiffened, the calming hand Xander had placed on her arm didn't escape his attention either; so he interrupted the babbling newpsie. "Julie used to be our next door neighbour. She was married to Jimmy; Marissa and Kaitlin's mom, do you remember?"

"Right, of course. It's great to see you again." Faith said falsely, but the woman didn't seem to pick up on it.

Kirsten called from the living room. "Faith?"

"Coming." Faith responded slightly unsteadily as Xander nudged her forward and smiled encouragingly.

"So what happened to your eye?" Julie asked the moment Faith stepped out of the room.

"Car accident. Very nasty." He replied shortly. He was not getting a great vibe off this woman.

"I see. And you've known Faith for how long? So tragic, that poor girl…"

Xander was saved from having to answer by her mobile phone ringing.

"Hello, Julie Cooper-Nichol? No, how did you get this number…" She lifted a hand in what was meant to be an apologetic gesture and headed for the privacy of the garden.

Sandy shook her head as Julie disappeared outside. "That's my mother-in-law the porn star." Sandy laughed at the look Xander gave him. "Many, many years ago, don't worry. They're going to Paris to escape the gossip. Don't tell Ryan or Seth and definitely not Marissa."

Xander gaped a few times. And he thought rich people were boring and quite Giles-ish. "Sure."

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Caleb sat down slowly as the news sunk in. "And you are sure it's her? We all thought she was dead."

"I never believed that. And yes, it's definitely her. You can tell by just looking at her, you'll see."

"It couldn't help to be certain, a DNA test maybe. Her story was in all the papers, anyone could have decided to-"

"Dad! I have never been surer of anything in my life." Kirsten whispered, hearing the door open and Julie's exclamation. "She's coming."

Caleb said nothing; he just fixed his eyes on the back of the brunette he could make out through the crack in the door, barely daring to hope that it could be true. He'd seen what loosing Faith had done to his daughter, and the way it had dimmed his son-in-law hadn't passed him by either; in fact, it had affected the whole community in some way. For a very short amount of time, Newport Beach had been united in the fear for the life of a lost little girl and the fear that something like this could happen to any one of them. Devastation could strike no matter how much you earned, no matter how perfect everything seemed, and no black tie charity event would fix it.

Kirsten called her. "Faith?"

His heart skipped a beat as there was a pause. Let it be true…

"Coming."

At the first glance, Caleb knew that what Kirsten told him was true. His granddaughter was back. Her face was so much like Kirsten's at that age and her mother's before her, but her eyes were pure Sandy.

"Faith." He breathed. It wasn't a question, but she answered it from where she was standing awkwardly anyway.

"Yes."

"My God…" He walked over to her and just looked for a while. He reached out to stroke her hair as he had done on brief occasion when she was younger and oh so slowly placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Welcome home."

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I know that only the last couple of pages were Gruesome Twosome, but there was lots of plot stuff that needed to go in. Please Review!

Next Chapter: Enter Scoobies, enter vampires!


	11. Until they Won their War

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

_Thanks to Jess a.k.a. PrimitivePixx who's helping me with the rest of this fic._

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**A/N:** Sorry about the lack of updates. I've had a birth, a death and a holiday in the last month so it's kinda manic. The next one may not be that much quicker as it's that lovely exam season. Sorry!

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**11- UNTIL THEY WON THEIR WAR.**

"Are you going to be nice?" Xander asked as he and Faith waited at the airport for their friends.

"You know me, I'm always nice." Faith muttered. She knew she was being irrational; back up was part of the slaying gig now and it wasn't as if she hated Angel, Buffy and the rest of the slayers. But this was a crazy point in her life and her irritation at Xander was just about the only thing she could control right now.

"It's my fault they're here, don't be mad at them."

She rolled her eyes as people started spilling out the gates. "Whatever."

Xander craned his neck about, looking for a sign of Buffy or either of the slayers that may have gone with her. "She's too damn short."

"There's Vi and Shannon and presumably Angel inside the coffin box their wheeling, she'll be with them. Look who else is with them." Faith said spotting a fourth person with the group.

"She's got Dawn with her?"

Faith smirked. "I wonder what she's done now."

It was a standing joke amongst the Scoobies about how Buffy only allowed Dawn to come on missions when she'd done something wrong and didn't feel she could be left alone. Of course it wasn't all that of an effective punishment as the youngest Summers much preferred to be in the thick of the action rather than sitting at home, but Buffy hadn't really caught on to that yet.

Buffy approached the group with a smile. "Hey guys, how's it going?"

"Fine." Xander said returning the hug Buffy gave him and then moving onto Dawn. "Good to see you Dawnie. What did you do?"

Dawn smiled and shifted her bag on her shoulder so that it partially blocked Buffy from her sight. If she wasn't there then maybe she wouldn't get another lecture. "I just missed curfew a little bit."

"By two hours! And for the third time in a row!" Buffy spluttered.

"Buffy, I'm seventeen. You can't expect me to come home at nine thirty forever."

"Why, why do you always pick the times when I'm about to go away to stage a little teenage rebellion? You have the worst timing."

Faith smirked again. "I can't imagine."

Shannon let go of the trolley she and Vi were pushing Angel on and greeted Faith with a smile. She had always gotten on well with the older slayer, she (and Willow) had reassured her and taken her to the hospital when she first arrived in Sunnydale injured.

"Shannon!" Vi grabbed onto the coffin box as it lurched to the side, only her slayer strength prevented Angel from falling.

"Oops, sorry." She grinned sheepishly at the others as they tried to stifle their laughter at the indignant muttering coming from inside the box.

Buffy turned to her fellow slayer and gave her a quick hug. "Are you okay?"

"Five by five as always."

Buffy eyed her worried. "If you need someone to punch I'm here. And I promise not to beat you too badly."

"You wish. And the vampires kind of took care of the hit reflex."

"Right, vampires. Why are they here again?"

"My theory, a few turned up assuming there was a new slayer in town and word got around it was Faith on her own. It seems more organised now, I think someone's targeting her. It would be best if we raided tonight before they know back up's arrived. " Xander finished.

Faith looked at him. Sometimes she forgot he was a watcher, and a pretty good one at that.

"Great, tonight we lock Dawn in the room and go hunting." Buffy said, ignoring the grunt that came from Angel's box as she jolted it.

"Oh faboo." Dawn muttered sarcastically. She was ignored.

"Sounds good. Nothing like a little blood and violence before bedtime. Hey Angel, how was the flight?" Judging by the growl that came from the box, Faith guessed not all that great. She turned to Xander and lowered her voice slightly. "I've just got to phone my mom and dad, tell them we won't be coming around tonight."

Faith hurried off and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, recalling a number from its memory. "Hi, it's Faith…We've just picked them up from the airport…They're fine."

"That's good." Kirsten said on the end of the phone. "Are you coming for dinner tonight?"

"That's what I was calling about actually. Xander thinks we should hunt tonight."

"Xander thinks?"

"Well he's kind of running the show now, I told you he was a watcher."

Kirsten forced herself not to panic. "Okay. How about this afternoon? We'd like to see you. And your friends, we'd love to meet them."

Faith hesitated a minute. Did she really want her family to meet Angel, Buffy, Dawn, Shannon and Vi? "I don't know…"

"Sandy and I would love to meet them." Kirsten repeated. "They are the people we are expected to trust to help keep you alive, after all."

How could she say no to that? "Okay then. Around oneish?"

"Perfect. See you then!"

Faith hung up with a click and went to join the group.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Are you guys doing anything this afternoon? My parents would like to meet you." She found herself blushing slightly under the four stares that came her way.

"Well, Dawn has several ancient texts to translate, but I'm sure she won't mind leaving them for a few hours." Buffy said after a pause.

"Cool." Faith nodded, trying to shake off the feeling a big mistake. "Just don't scare them, okay?"

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Faith looked back at the group behind her as they waited for someone to answer the door. She knew for a fact that Xander had warned the three slayers and Dawn against saying anything too 'slayer-y', for which she was rather grateful. Angel had also refused her reluctant offer of dashing to the house under the cover of a smoking blanket. He'd been happy to stay at the hotel and meet her parents after sunset when he wouldn't scare them as much.

Seth answered the door eating a slice of pizza. "Hey Faith." He waved the group inside and called for his parents.

Sandy and Kirsten came into the entrance within the minute and were introduced to the four new faces.

"Wasn't there meant to be five of you on the plane?" Sandy asked when the introductions were completed.

Buffy and Xander exchanged looks. "Yeah, there's Angel. But he sort of has an issue with sunlight."

Sandy's smile dimmed a notch at the reminder of the supernatural. He firmly reminded himself that Faith only had good things to say about the vampire and by all accounts he helped her a great deal when she was bad.

"Oh of course, Faith did tell us. Are you all slayers?" Kirsten said, slightly stumbling over the word 'slayer'. It still all seemed rather unbelievable.

"Dawn's not." Vi answered.

"Oh?"

"Oh no, she's just my sister."

Dawn gave Buffy a quick glare. "Thanks Buffy."

Buffy just smiled. "It's great to meet you all."

Sandy returned the smile. "You too, Faith and Xander have told us a lot about you Buffy."

"Yeah? What kind of stuff?" Buffy's looked nervously at Faith who smirked back. "I'm afraid we know nothing about any of you."

"Well it's not all that interesting really." Kirsten lead the adults into the living room, but Seth caught Shannon's arm to stop her from following.

"Oh no, you don't want to hear that. Come hang out in the pool house, it's where the young people go." Seth confided in a stage whisper.

"Sounds good." Shannon said with a look at Vi and Dawn. They followed Seth, outside.

Buffy poked Xander in the ribs. "When did we become the old ones?"

"We're old?"

Buffy smiled at him and turned to Dawn. "No having fun- you're grounded."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Whatever Buffy."

Seth patted her shoulder in sympathy as they left the room. "Dude you're grounded? That sucks."

"Tell me about it. It won't last though; it never does." Dawn said as they got out of earshot.

"I still don't get how you can wind her round your little finger no matter what you do and she still busts my ass for doing a little solo slayage." Shannon groaned.

"A) I've known her my entire life; I know all her weak points. And B) I'm her sister, it comes with the territory." A thought occurred to her and she turned to Seth. "I can show you a few things that work with Faith if you want. Tears are key."

Seth gave Dawn a strange look. "I don't think that'll work for me. I'm far too manly."

He glared at Ryan who was smirking and Marissa who was having a giggle fit.

"I am so manly. Stop laughing at me!"

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Xander looked at his watch and tapped Faith on the shoulder. "Half hour till sunset."

"We better get going." She agreed. The afternoon had gone surprisingly well. Buffy knew the right angle to put on slaying stories in front of parents having had lots of experience with her own mother. The Cohen's still didn't look happy about it, but seemed to be more at ease than the previous days.

"Are you sure you won't stay for dinner?"

"I've got to take Dawn back to the hotel before we go slaying and we need to pick up Angel." Buffy said as an explanation.

"You're going to leave her there alone? Is that safe. She can always come here for the evening." Kirsten immediately offered.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want her to be an imposition." Buffy said, more to Faith than to Kirsten.

"B, you know you worry when you leave junior on her own."

"Thanks, that would be great."

"I'll go tell her and get the newbies." Faith offered, getting up and heading to the pool house.

She knocked briefly before entering. "Anyone who's a slayer is leaving. D, you're staying here while we party."

Dawn shrugged. "It's better than working in the hotel."

Faith smirked. "B said she was gonna drop round some Sumerian text that Giles wants translated by the morning."

"Joy." That was the only problem with being grounded, Buffy expected her to do a lot more work than she would usually.

"You work?" Summer, who had arrived after the rest, but had promptly been told the big 'secret' by blabbermouth-Seth, said incredulously.

"Yeah, as a translator of dead languages for the council. It's about as much fun as it sounds."

"She hits the books while we hit the baddies." Shannon quipped with a grin.

"Hey, I so hit stuff too!" Dawn protested. "I just don't have an obsession about it like _some_ people."

"Like some people who could kick your ass from here to China?"

"Hey, hey!" Faith interrupted. "Shannon, Vi- get gone. D- don't do anything stupid."

"As if!" Dawn said, her face a picture of innocence.

But Faith didn't buy it for a second. She knew Dawn was a bit of a risk taker, hell, everyone knew it, and tended to act first, think later. Later generally being when she got kidnapped and/ or attacked. That was the main reason why Buffy had spent a lot of time training Dawn, so that she could protect herself and any other people she got kidnapped with.

"Don't get them into trouble." She added in a low voice so that Seth and his friends couldn't over hear.

Dawn was surprised by Faith's serious tone. "I won't, you have my word."

Faith nodded and offered her a slight smile before following the other two slayers through the door.

"Stay safe." Dawn called after them. "Don't get dead!"

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"Buffy said your parents were nice." Angel said in his usual soft voice.

"Yeah, they're great."

"That's good. You deserve a little happiness."

She bit back the retort about his sappiness and smiled instead. "Thanks."

"And they're okay… with everything?" Angel said his eyes firmly on the ground he was walking over. When Buffy had invited him to help Faith, he couldn't refuse her if she needed help, he never could. But he had been cautious about making things awkward between Faith and her parents. He was a vampire, a creature of the night, a demon. Not the thing you'd want to introduce to your parents, especially when they only known of you existence for a couple of days.

"They will be. It takes a bit of getting used to, but they'll get there." Faith said confidently. She'd seen enough in the last couple of days to know that the Cohen's were more than happy to make an effort. "I did tune down the losing-your-soul thing, though."

"Probably a good idea." He said with a bitter sweet smile.

"Besides, you never tried to kill me like Buffy did, and they're fine with her."

"Did I hear my name?" Buffy popped up from where she had been walking behind them.

"Just saying how much my parents liked you guys, and that they'll be fine with Angel." Faith said. The poison arrow/ stabbing incident had been discussed once shortly after the defeat of the First, but then was pushed into the background. Something they would always remember, but never mention.

"Oh yeah? They'll love Angel. Everyone loves Angel, he's Angel."

"No shit."

"Except for after the evil thing, of course, but now everyone loves you again. Even Xander tolerates you and he used to hate your guts."

"I'm gonna make sure Shannon and Vi know what they're doing." Angel said, not all that happy with the way the conversation was going. It was making him nervous.

"He is way too easy to wind up." Buffy grinned.

"Yeah." Faith said before they lapsed into silence as they walked.

"So, parents, huh?" Buffy finally said, trying to strike up a conversation with Faith.

"Uh huh."

"How's that working out for ya?"

"So far it's good."

"They seem nice. And they're okay with the slayer thing?"

"They don't like it, but they get it." Faith explained.

"Ah."

They continued to walk in silence for a while, listening to the night sounds.

Buffy turned towards her. "Now you've got them, just don't take them for granted, okay?"

Faith stopped walking and held her gaze for a minute. Buffy was always so strong, so together, that it was easy to forget that it had only been a few short years since her own mother died and she was forced to take on the role for her younger sister.

"I won't."

The next break in silence came from the ringing of Faith's mobile phone.

"Hello? What happened…Don't move, we're on our way."

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked urgently.

"It's Lil' D, Seth and his friends. They're all gone."

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Review!

Next Chapter: Operation find Seth


	12. And They Lived

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**A/N:** Thanks for the plot bunnies! A couple of them will come into play in the next couple of chapters…

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**12- AND THEY LIVED**

"Gone? What do you mean, they're gone? Gone where?" Buffy said, a familiar panic settling in her stomach.

"Mom phoned. She called them in for dinner but there must have been some vamps waiting or something. Dawn, she tried to fight but… They took them, Buffy." Faith explained. She'd gone worryingly pale and looked scared as she spoke to Buffy.

Buffy took a few calming breaths. So Dawn was in trouble. She'd worm her way out of it, she always did. She'd be fine. They all would. "They'll be fine, Faith. Dawn's with them, and she's practically an expert at being kidnapped. And they want you to go and find them- they won't risk harming them until you show up. All we have to do is find them."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"I'll call Willow. She must have something of Dawn's that she can base a locator spell around. Let's head back to your parents house. They'll be worried, and wherever they've taken them shouldn't be too far from there." Buffy said, finding it easier to cope if she focused on someone else's worry instead of her own fears for her little sister. Dawn was tough, she'll be fine… probably.

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"Hey, hey, hey- watch the hands." Dawn protested as she was unceremoniously thrown on the cold floor in what could only be described as a cell in one of Newport's houses. They'd been dragged into the basement and down a flight of stairs behind a thick locked door into a totally dark, empty room.

Summer watched the vampires ignore them and walk back up the stairs that they had just dragged their hostages down. They closed and locked the door at the top of the stairs, shutting out the only source of light to the room. "They're going to kill us."

"No, they're not." Dawn said firmly, getting up and feeling about the cell for anything that could aid them in any way.

"How do you know that? They're evil!"

"Even vampires are smart enough not to kill the bait." Dawn said, not looking at them from where she was examining their surroundings. "Trust me; this kind of happens a lot."

"Maybe to you. " Ryan muttered from where he was sitting, one arm draped around Marissa's shoulders.

"Yeah, this is kind of a new experience to us." Marissa said, her voice shaking.

"This is not how I pictured my death." Summer groaned.

"You picture your death?" Seth asked, attempting at normalcy. "What does it look like?"

"Well for one thing it's not on a stone floor." She snapped.

"We're not going to die here." Seth said quietly.

"He's right." Marissa said, trying to be optimistic. "There must be a way out somewhere…"

"If there is, then I can't find it." Dawn said sitting back down with the group.

"Then I guess we wait." Ryan said, unconsciously pulling Marissa tighter to him.

"To die?"

"Summer, we're not going to die." Seth snapped, stunning her into silence. "Faith will come for us. I know she will."

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Kirsten and Sandy looked up from where they had been nervously sitting as they heard footsteps running up the driveway. Sandy jumped up to answer the door, arriving just as the visitors pressed the doorbell. A breathless Faith entered the hall, immediately followed by Buffy. Faith immediately gasped out, demanding information; waving off the concerns as to if she was okay.

As the two younger slayers ran up, noticeably more worn out than either Buffy or Faith, the Cohen's attention was drawn to the doorway, in particular to the man they hadn't seen before hovering just outside it.

"Hi." He said uncomfortably when he realised the attention.

Buffy rolled her eyes. You'd think that after over two hundred years of living he would have lost some of the awkwardness but nooo…

"Mom, Dad; this is Angel. He needs an invite to come in." Faith explained.

"Oh, of course!" Kirsten said, obviously flustered. "I'm so sorry, so much has happened in the last hour that I just-"

Sandy put a hand on his wife's shoulder and she immediately stopped. "Come in."

Angel didn't flinch at the slightly frosty reception. It had taken Xander years to lose that edge to his voice and the Cohen's sons had been kidnapped by vampires. It was perfectly understandable and he was well used to it by now. The reassuring smile Faith sent him banished all doubts of his acceptance from the group from his mind.

Any explanations were halted by an obviously exhausted Xander flopping into the room.

"I'm…okay…" He panted, all evidence to the contrary.

"A little out of breath there, Xand?"

"Can't…all have…superpowers." He gasped indignantly.

Kirsten smiled slightly, glad for the brief humour in the serious moment. Now they were there, she was already feeling better about the situation. Faith would know what to do.

"Xander, would you like some water? Anyone?" She looked around and received a series of nods from the slayers, she tensed when she came to Angel. "I, uh, I'm not sure I have anything that you'll like." She said delicately. "I didn't know…or where to…"

"It's okay, Mrs Cohen, thank you." He murmured quietly and she nodded relieved and turned into the kitchen.

Everyone followed her in and explanations were given. Buffy groaned when she heard how Dawn had stepped outside the pool house into the garden to be snatched by the vampires. Would she never learn? She looked over to see how Faith was coping with the news that her brother had been kidnapped- she hadn't had nearly as much practice as Buffy had and Seth wasn't really experienced with the supernatural world. She heard Xander calling her name.

"Huh? What?"

"I said we should call Willow and get her to do a locator spell." Xander repeated slowly.

"Oh yeah, good idea. We'll do that. Be right back." They went into the living room to call for help.

Faith was worried, she was pacing the Cohen's kitchen frantically. "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you apologising? You didn't take them."

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't have come here, then none of this would have happened. The vampires wouldn't have detected a slayer and they would have no reason to come to Orange County."

Kirsten grabbed her arm to stop her pacing. "You never apologise for coming back to us. Never."

There was a long pause as everyone became lost in their thoughts, thinking things that they were to scared to say aloud.

"Should we call Summer and Marissa's parents?" Sandy asked eventually.

"I wouldn't." Shannon said when Faith didn't volunteer an answer. "They'll be home safely soon enough, no need to worry them."

"Yeah. The other week when Dawn got kidnapped with a couple of her friends, Buffy didn't call their parents. Try not to worry; Dawn's even had some training in fighting vampires and stuff." Vi offered in what she hoped was a reassuring tone.

"I'd want to know when my kid's in danger. I think we should tell them." Sandy said.

"Do you think they'd believe you?" Shannon asked pointedly. "Only a handful of people know the truth, even the people who get captured sometimes don't believe us and they've seen it with their own eyes."

"I guess not." Sandy sighed, one arm going around his wife's shoulder. "So we wait."

"Not for much longer." Xander said coming back into the room. He and Buffy had been on the phone to Willow to see about getting a location spell done.

"Willow will call us back in a couple of minutes with the location. We'll bring them home safe." Buffy promised the worried parents.

It was barely two minutes later when Willow called Buffy back, but in that time Faith resumed pacing, Kirsten checked her watch every ten seconds and Sandy sat down and then got up again seven times.

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Meanwhile, in a dark, dank basement…

Silence had long since settled over the teens. Save for the occasional thud as Dawn banged her head against the wall, marvelling at her own stupidity. How many times had she been told to wait inside? How many times had she been kidnapped by something waiting just outside the house? And yet, barely half-an-hour after promising Faith that she wouldn't do anything stupid and get her new brothers kidnapped, what does she do?

"Stupid." She muttered, banging her had again.

Ryan was dimly aware of Dawn's muttering, but paid little attention he had too many of his own thoughts to contend with, not all of them about their current predicament, although it had fazed him when he'd given one of the vampires a punch easily hard enough to break their nose and he didn't even flinch- that definitely didn't bode well for any of the escape plans he had yet to think of.

Marissa shivered and he instinctively pulled her closer to him. As she leant back further into his arms, Ryan rested his chin on her head. This was the main problem.

He wasn't stupid, he knew that he and Marissa were well on their way to getting back together and he was fairly sure that she knew as well. Seth and Summer most certainly did, given their constant comments, and even Faith's friend Xander had picked up on it in the few days he'd known them. That didn't make it any easier. They'd had one of those long, drawn out break-ups, had they ever officially broken up? He'd moved back to Chino to be with Theresa, and then there was DJ… and Alex and Lindsay. Except for that (awkward) time at the mall, they hadn't been alone since…it couldn't really be Caleb's wedding, could it?

He tried to stop thinking, now was not the time to be obsessing over his (very complicated) love life, or lack of. He should be trying to get out of this situation… even though he knew it to be useless. They just had to wait to be rescued.

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As Willow put down the phone, she sighed and shook her head. Would that girl ever learn? "Giles! Dawnie's been kidnapped again!"

Sigh, groan. "Again?"

"Yep. I told you it was a good idea to fit her with that magical tracker. It'll save me a fortune on location spell materials."

"You were right." Giles conceded. "Silly me, I hoped that Dawn would be a little more careful after being dangled over a pit of fire last week. I should have known better."

Willow shrugged. "It's Dawn. She can be as careful as… I don't know, a nun? Nuns are careful, right? Anyway, she could be really careful and still get kidnapped."

"I know. Let's get the map and find her then. The sooner she's home safely, the sooner Buffy can keep her there for the next two weeks."

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How is it that even when you've been kidnapped by creatures that by all logical reasoning shouldn't exist, things can still make perfect sense?

Marissa took another shuddering breath. Whenever her thoughts drifted back to her current situation, she couldn't help but think that it wasn't going to end well. However more often she found herself thinking about Ryan. He'd always protected her and she knew he would now as well. No matter what, he'd always be there for her.

"Ryan?" She whispered pointlessly, everyone was too preoccupied with their own thoughts to pay any attention to them.

He shifted in the darkness so he was looking at her. Or so he thought he was at least. "Yeah?"

"Are we gonna be okay?"

"Sure." He said after a pause.

Marissa caught the nervous lilt in his voice and bit her lip in worry. Ryan was the one who always managed to fight his way out of anything.

"Hey," he said softly, sensing her worry. "I won't let them hurt you."

He spoke with such sincerity that she believed him, despite the situation.

Across the room, Seth listened to the exchange and smiled. Yep, well on their way to being fantastic again. Ryan and Marissa were talking again, his sister was back, he was starting to get used to the dark and Summer had stopped crying. Now if only they could get out of this pesky basement then they could get back to normal.

Seth wasn't worried. Well, not really. Although she'd only been back in his life for a few days, he had complete faith (no pun intended) in his sister. He knew that she'd be out looking for him and she'd find them. They'd all get through it in one piece. He just _knew_ it.

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Everyone stopped and looked at Buffy as she answered her mobile phone. And waited with bated breath as she snapped it shut with a click.

"Okay, we have a location. Not too far from here, we can walk it. Vi, Shannon; grab your weapons."

Faith picked up her own sword. "Lets motor."

Xander offered the Cohen's a slight smile as he pulled a bag onto his shoulder. "We'll be back soon."

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Review!

Next Chapter: Operation Kick Ass


	13. Happily

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**A/N:** I wanted to get this up because I'm jetting off to Greece on holiday, so there won't be an update for at least a fortnight. See you in a couple of weeks!

Thanks to Allen Pitt for the plot bunnies he left a couple of chapters ago. One of them plays a big part in this chapter...

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**13- HAPPILY**

"Okay, I have an idea."

Everyone leaned forward in the circle they were sitting in at Seth's words. Only Ryan was the one to sigh slightly. Seth's plans never seem to end well. They usually ended with him being punched and Ryan was tired of getting punched. He was getting seriously worried about his face- there were only so many times a person can get hit before it starts to show.

"We're gonna play this like Camp Takaho."

"Camp what?" Dawn asked.

"Don't ask." Ryan muttered at the same time as Summer said. "Geek camp."

"It's all very 'capture the flag'. Very Atomic County, very-"

"Get on with it, Cohen." Summer ordered.

"Right. Well I've noticed that these vampires have been coming into our cell periodically to taunt, threaten and otherwise humiliate us."

"I think we've all noticed that. What's your point?" Ryan said.

"Dawn, can you hold the vampire that comes down here?"

"Without weapons? Not a chance." She answered flatly.

Seth frowned in the darkness and reworked his plan. "Okay, here's what we do…"

When he'd finished explaining his plan, it wasn't met with the approval he'd hoped.

"You're gonna get us all killed, Cohen." Summer didn't like it.

"She's right." Neither did Marissa.

"It'll never work." Ryan was dead set against it.

"Don't be so negative. But you're right. We will die." It didn't look like Dawn was thrilled with the prospect either.

"Does anyone have a better idea?"

Silence greeted him.

"So let's do it."

It was another twenty minutes before the door to the basement opened again and by then everyone's legs were aching from crouching in the same positions for so long. The vampire obviously wasn't expecting an attack as she just walked into the room casually. Only to be jumped at on two sides by mortals.

With a startled yell the vampire tumbled down the remainder of the stairs and onto the floor. Whoever had organised the teens kidnapping obviously hadn't been able to get the best minions in the world.

"Right," Seth hissed, "you two keep her here, and we'll get help."

Marissa, Summer and Seth slid out the door leaving Ryan and Dawn sitting on the vampire in the basement.

"I don't think Seth thought this plan through." Ryan commented as he was nearly thrown off the vamp.

Dawn steadied herself, placing her knee on her spine, before answering. "What? You mean the part where we get left alone in the basement with a vampire and no way to defend ourselves?"

"That would be it."

"So does Seth do this kind of thing a lot then?" Dawn said after a short pause.

Ryan gave her a look that she couldn't possibly see in the darkness.

"Ah. I see."

"Do you think this'll work?" Ryan asked, not really seeing how it possibly could.

This time it was Dawn's turn to give the look.

"Ah."

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Summer jumped back from the corner she'd just been turning quickly and made a desperate hand gesture to her friends.

Seth nodded in approval. Now she was getting it! He peered around the corner before turning to the two girls.

"Wait here, I've got an idea." Seth whispered, going up to the vampire who was now inspecting her nails. She didn't look tough at all and hopefully this wasn't one of those times when looks were deceiving.

"Excuse me." The vampire turned just in time to receive Seth's punch to her face. She sank to the floor without a sound.

"Hey, I did it right!" Seth said with a big grin as the girls hurried over.

"That's your big idea? I could have done that!" Marissa said.

Seth ignored her. "I really don't like doing that," he remarked.

Summer snorted. "What's wrong? Don't like to hit women?"

"I don't like to hit anybody. It hurts!" he shot back, massaging his hand.

"Not to mention it draws attention to ourselves." Marissa said, looking behind them fearfully.

Summer followed her gaze to where two bulky vampires were standing. "Oh crap."

Two seconds later, they found themselves locked in the dark basement once again.

"Nice going, Cohen." Summer griped, but Seth paid her no heed.

"Okay, time for Plan B…"

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Faith and Buffy returned to where Shannon, Vi, Angel and Xander were waiting for them. They'd walked all the way around the house Willow's locator spell had found to be holding Dawn looking for signs of unlife. It had not taken as long as it usually would- Faith was taking this rescue mission a lot more seriously than she had any other in the past. This time, she had something to loose.

"There's an area around the back where the windows are boarded up. That's our best bet." Buffy said in a low voice. Faith was already loading up her crossbow. "We'll spilt into two teams and go in the side windows and head towards the back from both sides. Keep it quiet, we don't know if they're expecting us."

"Right." "Okay." "Let's go."

"Faith, you take Xander and Vi and approach from the left. Keep a look out for the hostages, but don't go looking for them." Buffy said, aiming her words at Faith. "We need to get rid of the vampires first, okay?"

"Fine." Faith said, already heading round to the other side of the house.

"She's getting scarily good at the drill sergeant thing." Xander remarked quietly as they approached the house.

Vi nodded in agreement, but Faith just marched on, a determined look in her eye.

Around the other side of the house, Buffy, Angel and Shannon had already let themselves in through one of the side doors and were creeping down the hallway.

Buffy felt Angel stiffen beside her and, knowing he must have heard something, put her hand out stopping Shannon from moving. She pulled her back into a side room as two vampires emerged from a room at the end of the hall talking in low voices. She raised her eyebrows in a silent question and Shannon nodded in response. As the vampires just past them, they leapt out and staked them instantly.

Before the dust hit the ground, the two slayers heard shouts from down the hall, alerting them that Faith's group had found the main group of vampires. They broke into a run and entered the room.

There were only about eight vampires in all, and Faith was cutting through them with a deadly efficiency. Add two more slayers and a vampire to the mix and it was nearly over before it all began.

One of the vampires stood back, saw they had no chance and ran for it, trying to get to the basement before the slayers realised he was gone.

As Shannon and Buffy each slayed a vampire, the odds were stacked even more highly in their favour. It wouldn't even last the minute.

As they finished up with the vampires, another two stepped out from the next room. The first vampire cleared her throat loudly and tossed her blond hair over her shoulder. When Buffy saw who it was she groaned loudly. Xander and Angel quickly followed suit causing Faith, Shannon and Vi to look at them in confusion.

"We meet again slayer….slayers. It is I, Harmony."

"We know who you are, Harmony. I went to school with you for four whole years." Xander said with exaggerated slowness.

"I was talking to the slayer, dork!" She retorted as bother Xander and Faith glared at her for the comment. "Where was I? Oh yeah, it is I, Harmony. I have come to wreak doom and stuff!"

"Something sure reeks here." Shannon muttered, but Harmony's enhanced vamp hearing allowed her to overhear.

"That would be Tommy." She hissed, jerking her thumb back to the vampire behind her. "It's so hard to get good minions these days and-"

"Harmony, your point please?" Buffy interrupted.

"Right." She looked around the room, spotting Angel for the first time she waved enthusiastically. "Hey boss!"

"Harmony." He greeted tensely.

"Thanks for the great reference. I thought you might have brought up the betrayal thing, but it's good to know you appreciated all of my hard work."

"Harmony!" Buffy barked, once again bringing things back to the matter at hand. "You've kidnapped my sister. Again. I've killed your… _minions_, again, and now I'm arguing with you, again. Where's my sister?"

"You won't win this time, slayer!"

Vi rose her hand and stepped forward. "We just killed all your minions."

"Oh yeah? Well I totally have a back up plan." She turned to the remaining vampire by her side. "Tommy, get them. He's my loyalist, strongest minion, you know. He's totally gonna kick your-"

Xander had raised his crossbow and fired, shooting Harmony's 'loyalist, strongest minion' through the heart as he lurched forward. He immediately exploded into dust.

Harmony coughed as she inhaled what was once her follower. "Hey!"

"We don't have time for this. Harmony, where's Dawn?" Buffy demanded, finding the fact that it was only Harmony behind this charade oddly comforting.

Faith, not knowing Harmony, had no such reassurances. "Where's my brother?" She grabbed the vampire's long blond hair in her fist. "Tell me!"

"No way! An evil villainess never re-"

Faith yanked harder on her hair.

"Hey! Okay, okay- there's no need to get violent." Harmony looked around the dusty room and laughed nervously. "They're in the basement, don't stake me."

Faith threw her down on the floor and sprinted along the hall, opening every door until she found what she was looking for. Buffy looked torn between making sure her sister was okay and taking care of Harmony.

"Don't worry, I've got it." Angel said grimly and Buffy ran off after Faith.

He looked down at the now nervous Harmony and rolled his eyes. "You're an even worse villain than you were an employee."

She looked down right offended. "Hey! I brought you blood and coffee and answered your phones!"

"You tried to kill me!"

"And I feel really bad about it." She crooned. "So, can we, like, forget this ever happened?"

She saw the look on Angel's face and looked hopefully to the two slayers behind him. It wasn't a particularly reassuring sight. She sighed.

"I knew you were going to say that." Pause. "I'm willing to negotiate?"

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They heard the door open and shut. In the dim light, the five teenagers could make out a vampire walking towards them.

"Well the slayers are here." He said as he sauntered forward.

"Told ya!" Seth turned to Summer triumphantly.

"So we don't really need you alive anymore." The vampire continued.

"Dumbass." Summer breathed to her boyfriend, but pushed herself further back into his arms nonetheless.

Ryan pushed Marissa behind him. If any of them were going to die, they'd have to get through him first.

Dawn started getting to her feet. "Okay Dawn, you've had the training. You can take one lousy vampire."

The vampire grinned in the darkness, relishing a chance to build up his appetite. He easily dodged her first punch, and the second. Dawn feinted with a right hook, and brought her leg up to kick the vampire in the shins. Her minor victory was short lived as with a sweep of his hand, the vampire knocked her into the wall. Her head ricocheted off the stone and she dropped to the floor.

"Dawn!"

"Or maybe I can't." Dawn muttered, pushing herself up onto her knees and trying to push back the darkness that threatened to envelope her.

The vampire slowly walked forward, rummaging in his pocket.

"I want you to see the face that kills you."

He pulled out a little box, and stuck a match against it. The room was alit in a ghostly glow.

Seth started forward. "Hey, aren't we supposed to have a last word? A last request? Last kiss…anything?"

"Seth…" Ryan intoned warningly.

The vampire, who had turned to look at Seth the moment he started speaking, gave him a strange look. "You can have a last breath."

"Dude, have you ever watched a movie? You always get a last-"

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The vampire screamed as the match burnt down and burned him, the small flame making contact with his sleeve. It wasn't much but the cheap fabric immediately caught fire. A fact which Summer had to mention, despite the situation.

"That'll teach him to buy rayon." She breathed, she voice shaking badly.

The door was kicked open and two familiar faces ran down the steps as the vampire started screaming, trying to pat out the flames before he turned into ash. He didn't manage it.

"Dawn!" Buffy immediately ran over to her almost-unconscious sister.

Dawn sighed in relief. "What took you so long?" She murmured before allowing herself to drop into painless sleep.

"Is she okay?" Faith called over from where she'd been frantically checking on the others.

"Just knocked out. Did she hit her head?" Buffy asked the others.

"Yeah. The…vampire knocked her into the wall." Ryan said, struggling over the word vampire slightly.

"She's been spending too much time with Giles." Buffy muttered.

Faith snorted with laughter. "What's say we get out of here and get you two home before Mom has a heart attack?"

"Sounds good to me." Buffy said, lifting Dawn into her arms and starting to make her way up the stairs. She groaned. "If she keeps insisting on getting knocked out, then this girl is going on a diet!"

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"Thank goodness." Kirsten came running out and pulled Seth close, her other arm searching for Ryan and pulling him into the three-way hug.

Sandy noticed Buffy still carrying Dawn. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. She's starting to come around I think. Besides she only does it so she doesn't have to walk home. Do you have a first aid kit?"

"I'll get it." Ryan offered, disentangling himself from Kirsten.

He didn't get very far. As he walked past Sandy, he found himself being hugged again and couldn't help but smile at the love and attention.

"Don't worry us like that again." He said, giving his adopted son a pat on the back.

"I'll try." Ryan said with a smile before going to get the first aid kit.

As Seth went over to his father, Kirsten approached her daughter who was standing with the two younger slayers. As she went over, the two girls smiled and left them alone.

"Thank you for bringing them home. If anything had happened… I don't think I could lose one of you again."

"Don't mention it." Faith said embarrassed. "That's my job, right?"

"Some people don't get thanked enough for doing their jobs." Kirsten said. They stood there for a moment in an awkward silence. "So are those girls okay?"

"Shannon and Vi? They're five-by-… They're fine. They're tough kids, good slayers. They're still learning so we try and give them a quick, what's the word, debrief after fights. B usually does it, but she's looking after Dawn."

"Is she okay?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine. She got caught up in the fight a bit and got knocked out, it happens sometimes." Faith said, trying to gloss over the fact that the teens had been locked in a room on their own with a vampire.

"Oh. No one was seriously hurt though?"

She grinned. "Only the bad guys!"

"Are you okay?" Kirsten finally asked the question she'd been wanting too since they had returned.

Faith nodded. "Not even bruised."

"Will you stay here tonight?" Kirsten blurted out. She back tracked, seeing the uncertain look on Faith's face. "It's just that, with all that happened I'd feel better knowing that you were safe."

"Sure." Faith said after considering it for a second. "That would be nice."

Sandy joined them. "I take it by the fact that your mother hasn't rushed you to hospital, that you're not injured." He said, checking her over for tell tale signs of injury.

"No, I'm fine. Really."

"Thank God." He muttered, dropping a kiss onto her forehead.

Kirsten and Sandy hugged her. They stayed like that for a little longer than normal, if there was anyone still there then they may have got some odd looks, but anyone who knew them would see that they were just happy to be together again. A family.

Who weren't going to get broken up again.

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Next Update: sometime after I return from holiday in 2 weeks time.

Please review


	14. Ever After

**DISCLAIMER**: Listen up and Listen good, because I'm only saying this once! OC stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine.

**SUMMARY: **the OC/BtVS. Faith was taken from her family when she was ten. Now the Watchers Council is gone she's free to go back, but it's not that easy when over ten years have past and nothing's the same as when you left.

**RATING**: PG-13 for language.

**TIMELINE: **Faith is aged 21 in this fic. That makes her 16 when she first arrived in Sunnydale (around the same age Buffy was when she was called). She was 10 when she was taken from her family, so they've been without her for about eleven years. Takes place after 'the Blaze of Glory' for the OC and goes AU (alternate universe) i.e. Trey will not show up. At least not for now, but I may change my mind later.

**A/N:** The final chapter, sorry it took so long to get up. Thanks to all the people who have read and reviewed this story. There isn't a sequel planned for anytime in the near future, as far as I'm concerned the story is finished- there's a new equilibrium as my old media professor used to say. Thanks again and enjoy the last chapter

**Distant Elephants by Kiara**

**EPILOGUE- EVER AFTER.**

"You know not to go outside, especially when we're being targeted." Buffy said gently to her sister as she dabbed the wound on her forehead.

Dawn winced as the antiseptic made contact with the cut. "I know, I didn't think. I'm sorry for worrying you."

"Hey, look who's conscious!" Faith said as she came into the kitchen.

"I'm gonna go get a bandage. Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine Buffy." Dawn said with a roll of her eyes.

"How's the head?" Faith asked as Buffy left.

"Fine. Buffy's overreacting as usual."

"I am not!" Buffy's voice wafted back down to the kitchen.

"So, I'm sorry." Dawn said when she was sure Buffy was out of ear shot.

"What for?" Faith asked, genuinely surprised.

"I didn't think. I promised you I wouldn't get them into trouble and I knew we shouldn't go outside, but I forgot. Buffy always says I should think more and not get in such stupid situations but-"

"D, you're babbling!" Faith interrupted. "It's not your fault anyway. I should have known that the vampires wouldn't have given in that easily. Any time you want to look out for them is fine with me."

Dawn laughed. "I think I'll leave that to you. You're pretty good with the big sister stuff."

"You think?"

"Definitely. You'll be irritating Seth and Ryan in no time."

Faith smiled slightly. Dawn got up and gave her a quick hug. "I'm glad you're happy." She said.

"Yeah, me too." Faith grinned at the youngest Scoob and went to find Buffy.

"I get it now." Faith said from the doorway, knowing that the other slayer would have heard her approach.

Buffy briefly looked up in her search of the first aid box. "Get what?"

"Why you're so hard on D. I just thought you were a stuck up, tight a… well, you know."

"Is this going anywhere?"

Faith glared at her. "Do you mind? I'm trying to share here."

"Sorry, continue." Buffy said with a smirk. Faith was acting differently than she was used to, more human. It was a nice change.

Faith sighed and sat down on the edge of the bath. "Is it always like this?"

"With Dawn, yes. You may not have noticed but she's a trouble magnet. I hear other kids manage to go whole weeks without risking their lives."

"That's comforting." Faith returned dryly.

"Isn't it though?" Buffy grinned, but took pity on the obvious worry on her friend's face and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before taking the bandages back to her own younger sibling. "You'll do fine Faith."

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"So how's the pool house?"

"It's weird. You know, the only time I slept in that bed was with you." Marissa looked at him, trying to gage his reaction.

Ryan looked up at Marissa. He didn't break eye contact as he slowly inched his hand towards hers.

The light snapped on.

"Woah." Marissa rubbed her eyes at the sudden increase in light.

Faith was standing in the doorway. "You guys are up early."

"Hmm." Ryan was still blinking.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." She said with a smirk. She may have only been about for a week or so, but even she knew that between those two there was always something.

"No, it's cool." "It's fine."

Ryan cleared his throat. "So do you have any plans for today?"

"Kinda. Dad mentioned some pseudo charity non-yard sale or something like that. Apparently my return is now common knowledge so I've got no reason to hide in here."

"Secrets don't stay secrets very long around here." Marissa said, smiling her thanks as Ryan handed her a bowl of cereal.

"He asked Seth and I to help out too."

"Help out where?" Seth said as he came into the kitchen.

"Fake charity yard sale. Come on, I think we're getting in the way." Faith lowered her voice to a stage whisper so that Marissa couldn't hear her final comment. She dragged Seth out of the kitchen before he could say anything leaving Ryan staring at Marissa in a slightly creepy way.

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Faith lowered the box of streamers she was moving onto the table. She had steadily been ignoring the points and whispers all morning as people speculated as to who she was and where she had been. She'd overheard some of them talking, and what some of them were saying wasn't exactly favorable but she mostly heard pity. Faith hated being pitied, always had and now was no exception. At least no one knew about the jail time- they probably wouldn't have been quite so accepting of a former murderer.

Sandy, sensing his daughter's discomfort, came over. "Why don't you help Ryan and Seth take pictures of the lots?"

"Sure." Faith nodded, glad to be out of the limelight.

She heard Seth fooling about before she even opened the door and smiled as she walked into the room. That was _her_ brother acting like an idiot.

"Alright ottoman, work with me; you're sexy, get nasty, work with me!That's it you're a cougar, you're a panther and you're in the woods…"

She saw it coming as if in slow motion as Seth stepped backwards towards a table with a glass egg on it. He knocked it, the whole thing wobbled and the egg tipped off its stand towards the floor. Faith dove forwards and caught it millimetres before it would have hit the ground.

"Seth!"

"What?" He said oblivious.

Ryan ran hit hand through his hair and shook his head. That was too close for comfort. "Nice reflexes."

Faith grinned and shrugged. "What can I say, I work out."

"Nice save." Seth laughed. "That thing's probably worth, like, a million dollars."

"No, ten thousand." Ryan said, reading the tag and setting it back on its stand. "It says it's from Risky Business."

"Really?" Seth raised the camera once more. "Hey dude, turn it the other way, it's got a crack in it."

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"I hate to say I told you so, but those centre pieces and those table cloths- they clash, Taryn. I told you to get those linins with the hem stitch." Sandy said, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing out loud.

"I know, Sandy; I know." Taryn folded up the old tablecloth, barely overcoming the urge to glare at him. He was being downright chirpy. It must be his daughter coming home, though she found that whole situation a little suspicious: girl gets kidnapped, returns home ten years later with no crazy mental problems? Something just wasn't right with that.

"I'm sorry, but you have no one to blame but yourself."

Kirsten laughed from behind him (another strange thing- Kirsten didn't _laugh_ like that for no good reason). "Who are you and what did you do with my husband?"

"Well if it isn't our proud sponsor."

"I brought the banner, how can I help?"

"Joan! Tell me you didn't order those napkin rings. This is not a mob wedding!" Sandy called, much to his wife's amusement.

"Gosh Sandy, I thought they were kinda fun." Joan said, more than just a little perturbed by Sandy's uncharacteristic behaviour.

"Uh who wants to help me hang the banner!"

"Ask Taryn. She's screwing up the tablecloths, get her _off_ the tablecloths!"

"Okay…" Kirsten said, giving her husband a strange look.

Sandy smiled at her, and it was returned. They both knew what people were saying, but for once Kirsten didn't care. Their daughter was back where she belonged and life was good at the Cohen house. Long may it last.

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"You know," Sandy said as the Cohen's (plus Marissa) went back home that evening; "I think that's the first Newpsie Event that's gone off without a hitch in a long time."

"It's the first one I've seen." Ryan commented, smiling at Marissa.

"I think I miss the drama." Marissa quipped.

Faith rolled her eyes at the two of them. She'd only been around a couple of weeks and even she could see that there was something there. On the other side of her Seth was doing much the same thing.

"Whatever." Seth announced. "I'm wiped, I'll see everyone in the morning."

"Don't forget Faith's friends are coming over tomorrow before they leave."

Seth raised a hand in acknowledgement as he went up the stairs.

Faith's smile dimmed slightly. Tomorrow everyone was going back to Cleveland. Which meant that Xander would be going back to Cleveland. Which meant that tomorrow, he would be leaving her.

By living closer to her family, it meant being further away from her best friend and whatever else Xander had come to be to her over the course of this trip. And while she was glad to get to see her family for a while, she'd miss him more than she thought she would.

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"Willow called me earlier." Buffy said, knowing that Faith was already aware of her presence. They'd all arrived at the house to say goodbye and Buffy had immediately volunteered to go and fetch Faith who was talking with Seth in the garden.

"Oh yeah?"

"She did a scan of the area. There are no demons of any kind in Orange County."

"None? Thank God." Faith said, a weight lifted off her mind. That meant she didn't have to worry about her family being out at night.

"She also said to wish you a happy Hanukkah."

Faith frowned. "Hanukkah was three months ago."

"I think she's just happy to have another Jewish person about who quote, doesn't worship Santa, unquote." Buffy said with a grin.

"You know Jewish people? You should invite them to next years Chrismukkah; last year there were ratio issues." Seth confided, listening shamelessly to their conversation.

"Chrismukkah?"

"Yeah, a cross between Christmas and Hanukkah so you get the best of both worlds."

"Cool." Buffy agreed. "Anyway, we're going back to the hellmouth. I have innocent minds that need warping."

Faith laughed, a sound that was getting more and more frequent for those around her. "Okay B, thanks for coming."

"No worries. You get in trouble, I bail you out. That's how it's done." Buffy said with a grin.

"Yeah right, you fight like a girl."

"And yet I can still kick your ass."

Seth watched the interaction between the two in interest. In the few days that Buffy had been staying in Orange County, the Cohen's had witnessed several of the friendly arguments between the two chosen slayers. Dawn had told them that it was down to the 'alpha slayer' thing, something that none of the other slayers would experience until Faith died and the next one was officially chosen.

He'd come to terms with the 'demons are real' thing now. It was verging on cool that his sister was a superhero, although when he'd said that she gone quiet and said: 'yeah, that's what I used to think too.'

"Join us whenever you want." Buffy was saying.

"Thanks." Faith said with a smile, although she wasn't planning on moving back full time anytime soon.

"See you soon."

To Faith's surprise, Buffy gave her a quick one handed hug. All the Scoobs had know that she hadn't been much with the contact so had never really initiated any. It seemed they could tell she's changed.

They walked back to the house, so she could say goodbye to the others. Quick hugs were exchanged, Dawn made her promise to call. And then it came to Xander. Faith felt a lump building at the back of her throat which she forced back down.

"So thanks for everything, I couldn't have done it without you." She started awkwardly.

"You're welcome." He said with a grin.

Faith glared at him. He should be upset to be leaving her, dammit. "So what time are you leaving?"

"Now. I'll drop the others off at the airport and be back in a couple of hours." He said, still grinning.

"Drop off? You're staying here?"

"Didn't I tell you?" He said, the twinkle in his eye letting her know that he knew too well that she hadn't known his plans. "Giles is reassigning me to overseeing the building of a Watchers base not to far from here."

"He is?"

"Yeah, well if that's okay with you." He said a touch nervously.

"I guess." Faith shrugged, grinning manically on the inside.

Xander raised one eyebrow. He could see right through her. "That's sorted then."

"I suppose so."

He stepped forward to kiss her before he took off for the airport, but she stepped back.

"My parents are right there!"

He grinned at her, he couldn't help it. He'd never thought Faith would be so proper. "Fine, plenty of time for that when I get back."

She nodded. "Count on it."

There was the Faith he knew. He gave her a quick kiss anyway, before hopping into the rental car and backing down the driveway.

Faith waved and laughed until the car was out of sight. Kirsten and Sandy immediately came up behind her. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

Faith nodded. "I'm fine."

And this time she found she actually meant it.

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_Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far, away, there lived a beautiful princess who fell in love with a handsome prince. Things weren't always easy for the prince and princess but they never stopped fighting side by side for what they believed in. They faced amazing odds but they refused to give in until they won their war. And they lived happily ever after._

_**The End**_

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The End. No Sequel.


End file.
